


Final Breath Still Trapped Behind My Teeth

by spiralgal



Series: Will of the King [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Coping Mechanisms, Fix-It, Gen, It's subtle but there, M/M, Nyx Lives, Nyx Pines, Nyx Ulric's self-esteem issues, Nyx lives AU, PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Pretending everything is fine, Trauma, also, and later it's not as subtle, but you probably won't notice all of it until a reread, except for that canon one of, he doesn't think so but he does, his breath catches in his throat and everything, technically gen at this point, they're even mostly healthy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-04-11 23:37:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19120039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiralgal/pseuds/spiralgal
Summary: Nyx Ulric was meant to die with the dawn but finds himself stumbling out of Insomnia, somehow still alive. Barely holding himself together, he is found by Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and his retinue. Desperate for a purpose and lead by the words of King Regis’ ghost, he joins the group as they begin a journey to reclaim the kingdom—or is there perhaps some other purpose waiting for them?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written for the Quantum Bang 2019, a multi-fandom fix-it big bang. It is a completed work and already available over there, but I am posting chapter-by-chapter over a couple days here.
> 
> Many thanks to Jahaliel for betaing and to [SilverCircuit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverCircuit/pseuds/SilverCircuit) for the [art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19179511).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Rule well, young king," Nyx murmured to the dawn._

Nyx stared at the light falling over the horizon, Glauca finally quiet somewhere behind him. He could feel the flames slowly building within as his time came to an end. With a quiet sigh, Nyx let his eyes slip closed and his head fall back. The magic of the ring had let him accomplish his final task and he was resigned to his end. Nyx felt his arm beginning to give out as the fires flared and—

The world around him vanished. Caught mid-fall, Nyx's supporting arm jerked and his eyes flew open. Once again, he was surrounded by the kings of old, this time without the ring as a catalyst. A disjointed grunt slipped from his lips without his permission, as Nyx stared up at the towering forms of ghostly blue surrounding him in surprise.

**“Something has changed,”** boomed a voice.

**_“A shift in the crystal,”_** came another.

_“The loyalty of the ring,”_ murmured a third.

_“Magic peaked before its time,”_ a quiet voice whispered from the darkness.

“What,” Nyx said flatly.

A palpable ripple went through the spectral figures, the kings of old seemingly taking notice of him for the first time, a quiet rumble of disapproval seeming to fill the air. Nyx felt that was distinctly unfair, considering that without the ring he couldn't exactly come here on his own and so would have to have been specifically summoned there.

Before any of the specters could criticize him for interrupting, another voice struck out from the darkness, this one familiar.

“Glaive Ulric,” King Regis addressed him, “you have been granted reprieve.” The interjection seemed to have settled the others, and they took up the thread.

**“The Will of the King of Light now holds back your Price.”** The largest specter, that had been tearing apart the imperial dreadnaughts, seemed to move and loom over Nyx while the voice rumbled through him.

**_“His life is now your life, his death your death.”_** The specter Nyx had fought Glauca atop was striding forward and Nyx felt its attention on his back like a knife pressed to his spine.

_“And so you shall still perish with the dawn,”_ the quiet, dark voice whispered in Nyx's ear.

_“Our Bargain is at an end; our Light has set.”_ The Rogue, the only one Nyx could recognize on sight, was suddenly face-to-mask with Nyx, her whispering voice burning in his head.

**“Your death here has been denied by the Will of the King of Light,”** boomed the Conqueror.

**_“But your life is still forfeit,”_** came the words of the Wise.

_“It belongs now to the King of Light,”_ whispered the Rogue.

_“With each dawn his power in you will lessen, and your death will grow nearer,”_ slid through the darkness.

**“The Reign of the King of Light,”**

**_“The Chosen King, Foretold of the Draconian,”_ **

_“Has begun.”_

A ripple went through the strange world at the end of their declaration. The ghostly blue forms drifted away from Nyx and began fading into the distance.

_“It is never wise to surprise the Draconian. It is always best to obey both the letter and the meaning of his Word,”_ that voice without any accompanying spectral form softly murmured in Nyx’s ear.

Whatever vision Nyx could claim to have in this place was fading when King Regis’ voice spoke again. “Seek out my son, he will likely have need of you and will be your only hope for answers.”

As the darkness of the world of the Kings of Old began to fade and splotches of color began to appear, that dark voice whispered in Nyx's ear one last time.

_ “The King of Kings… to cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn’s light will cost the life of the Chosen. Many sacrificed all for the King; so must the King sacrifice himself for all.” _

The quiet haunting rhythm of the words lingered in Nyx's ears as, with a lurch, the world resumed. The strange weightlessness Nyx had forgotten about in front of the Kings of Old ended as his back smacked into the ground, forcing the air out of his lungs in an unprepared gasp.

Nyx lay there, wheezing, feeling very confused as the rays of the sun crept up his body. With every moment that passed, Nyx could feel the fire retreating from his limbs, gathering into a small ball just behind the base of his sternum.

When the last of the fire had retreated there, Nyx heaved a gasp and tried to curl around it; it felt like a hand had reached into his chest and seized onto that ball of fire. It squeezed, slowly and steadily seeming to compress the fire as Nyx gasped and gagged at the sensation. Finally, the sensation retreated, leaving behind a burning seed of fire surrounded by a shell of what felt like brightest light.

Nyx blinked blearily at the sky for a few endless moments. _The Will of the King of Light holds back your Price_ , they had said. Is that what this was? That seemed a little literal, but he wasn't keen on arguing about what exactly was keeping him alive. Carefully, Nyx relaxed back upon the rubble and tried to catch his breath, waiting until he didn't feel like he was going to break something if he moved.

Finally, Nyx tried to sit up. He barely made it a few inches before he was biting his lip and curling around his arm, whining horribly. _Well_ , he thought hysterically through the pain, _this sucks_. He might have been given a stay on death, but that apparently had not extended to the damage his dying had already inflicted.

Slowly, oh so slowly, and carefully, oh so carefully, Nyx managed to sit up, arm that had worn the ring still curled tightly to his chest, gasping all the while. Once upright, he took a break, slumping slightly, letting his back curve forward, just breathing through the pain. Apparently, the Light of Kings had blocked out a great deal of the feedback from his body, and it was taking this chance to inform him just how much he had been abusing it through the night.

Eventually, the pain settled to manageable levels and Nyx was able to blink his eyes open and take stock of his surroundings. What he saw was…. rubble.

_Well of course_ , Nyx thought with a little mental giggle. What was he expecting from a titanic battle between oversized kings, a giant daemon, and assault ships, especially with him and Glauca thrown in as well?

Right, Glauca. He should probably at least check and see if the bastard was dead, finish him off if he was somehow still alive, and figure out where his second blade had landed when the bastard had tossed it away.

With a groan Nyx pushed his way to his feet one handed, still refusing to move his damaged arm. Once on his feet he swayed as his scrapes and bruises began screaming again, though they quieted after a few deep breaths. Slowly, he began pacing towards Glauca.

When he finally reached the man, Nyx bent over him. One-handed he pulled out his blade and held the mirror-bright metal at an angle just in front of the man’s face. Despite the position making his body ache he remained there for a minute, but when no fogging of the blade ever occurred, he nodded to himself grimly satisfied and straightened again. That was Glauca done.

Now focused on finding his other blade, Nyx paused before giving a little mental shrug. _Doesn’t hurt to check, even if I’m sure of the result,_ he thought to himself. Carefully, Nyx reached out to that mental sense he had of his weapons, as he had done just minutes earlier in the battle, and tried to warp to the blade not sitting in his hand.

Nothing happened.

_Well,_ Nyx thought, _looks like I’ll have to do things the old-fashioned way. Again._ Thinking back to the battle, Nyx remembered the harsh blow that had traveled up his arm as Glauca knocked the blade out of his grip. It had gone… somewhere behind and to the left of him, hadn’t it? And then he had warped behind Glauca, so now hopefully it would be somewhere in front of and to the right of him.

Turning his gaze that way, Nyx sighed at the sight of the looming piles of rubble. Of course it couldn’t have flown into one of the clearer sections, of course it had to fly into the area with the big piles.

Well, unless he was willing to leave it behind without even trying, there was nothing for it but to start searching. At least he had an idea of where to begin.

Ultimately, it took Nyx close to half an hour to locate his wayward blade. He had had to take frequent breaks during that time to catch his breath and try to steady his aching body. His left arm had kept swaying and sending white-hot bursts of heat up into head until he finally conceded.

It had taken a bit of work, but he had managed to one-handedly detach the ribbons that had somehow made it through the fight unscathed and were still hanging on his coat. He had then used their length to fashion a sling for his arm and tie it down to his body as well as he could manage. It still had a little too much give in it, but it was a vast improvement over nothing at all.

Soon afterwards Nyx had found his blade, and then had a very awkward time contorting his back and arm trying to get the blade back into the sheath that was made for a left-hand draw. Eventually Nyx had had to concede that going behind his back wasn’t working, and bulled his way through a very painful hug to get the kukri securely in place.

That done, Nyx stood in the rubble, gazing blankly for a moment. _Now what,_ he wondered.

Nyx could feel a yawning blankness in the back of mind, threatening to swamp his senses and leave him paralyzed. If he stopped too long, he would be tempted to think about what had happened in the last few days. Such contemplations would have to happen eventually, of course, but Nyx desperately wanted the distance of either safety, or time between him and those memories.

_One thing at a time_ , he thought. _Panic and breakdowns are for when the crisis has passed, so **think**. What are you going to do now?_

Thankfully, King Regis had already solved this question for him. _Seek out my son_ , he had said.

The young king had left Insomnia shortly before the Imperial Retinue had arrived, on his way to Altissia. Where he was now Nyx couldn’t be entirely sure of, but the first step was obvious. _Leave Insomnia._ That should probably be followed by, _get somewhere safe_ , _treat his injuries as best he could_ , and _sleep_.

With his immediate future figured out, Nyx took stock of his surroundings again, this time trying to place where exactly he had ended up. He didn’t exactly know the entire city by sight, but he could see the highway he knocked Glauca off of nearby. Knowing it was his best bet for figuring out where he was and getting out of the city quickly, Nyx set off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Nyx. One foot in front of the other.
> 
> Also, "panic and breakdowns are for when the crisis has passed" is a choice bit of advice that comes from flamethrower's Obi-Wan Kenobi in her amazing Re-Entry series.


	2. Escaping Insomnia

Nyx had managed to get out of the city without much trouble.

He had taken advantage of the destruction to snag a coat out of the window of a destroyed store in order to cover up his injuries and Kingsglaive insignia. It was, conveniently, shapeless enough Nyx could simply toss it on over what he was wearing without trying to adjust his arm, but the price attached to what was little more than a piece of cloth was ridiculous. Nyx hadn’t been able to help a snort at what Insomnians were willing to pay for “fashion”.

Closer to the gate, Nyx had been grateful for his forethought as one person here or there became a stream of people fleeing Insomnia. He had breathed a sigh of relief once he was across the bridge and in Leide, the worry about Imperial forces somehow stopping him finally dissipating. But as Nyx was passing over Ostium Gorge, he had heard booted feet marching in step in the distance.

Choosing one of the barriers of the old check point to stop at in case he needed cover, Nyx had looked back to see a squad of Magitek Troopers approaching from the direction of the city, a troop carrier just lifting away from one of the oversized Armors. They hadn’t yet done anything to stop the people now running to escape them, but Nyx had been sure that access to the city, either in or out, had been about to end.

Turning away from the sight of the MTs and back to the road, Nyx had barely managed a few paces before he had stumbled.

 _Well,_ he had thought self-deprecatingly. _I guess I can call step one done, if just barely. Step two it is._

Nyx had been on Wall duty often enough, but he honestly didn’t know the lands next to Insomnia very well. A couple glances around as he got his feet back under him, and he had squinted into the distance curiously. _Was that—?_ Nyx had managed to spot a thin trail of smoke against the cloudy sky, and after another few minutes had confirmed to himself that it was indeed the sign of a Haven.

It was a little too close to Insomnia to truly count as _safe_ , but with the way his body had been threatening collapse it had been more than enough. The motivation of having a destination in sight had given him enough of a second wind to reach the Haven without falling on his face in exhaustion, but it had been slow going.

Thankfully, the MTs had stopped their advance at the old check point, and once Nyx had reached the Haven they had been out of sight.

Now he was here, safely at a Haven, with no Imperial encounters likely in the near future. _Step two done,_ he thought to himself, _now for step three_. Step three was looking pretty painful. With an anticipatory wince, Nyx finally turned his attention to the complaints his body was making.

Everything felt horrible.

Luckily, if he ignored his arm, all of his pain seemed to be of the aching or throbbing kind, no sharp stabbing pains anywhere. There had been a lurking dread in the back of Nyx’s mind that he would have a broken or cracked bone somewhere, and he would have just spent the entire morning walking around making it worse.

But what Nyx was feeling in his body right now could probably all be fixed with a Hi-Elixir or two.

 _Except my arm_ , Nyx thought with a groan, the limb seeming to throb even worse, as if demanding his attention, _my arm feels like it’s on fire._

Making a face to himself, Nyx removed the shapeless coat covering his arm and slowly began undoing his haphazard binding. When his arm was free, Nyx used his right hand to pull it away from his body and hold it up.

 _Yep, definitely looks bad. Also, definitely looks like something covered in ash,_ Nyx thought to himself. Wincing, Nyx tried to move his fingers and was incredibly pleased to see them respond, even if it hurt like hell to do it. Good news was always welcome.

_Okay, despite appearances, my arm still functions, likely because the damage came from magical fire rather than normal fire. Still, Hi-Elixirs are a must._

Carefully lowering his arm, Nyx searched through his pockets for his stock of curatives, but the searched pockets were empty. Widening his search to the other various hiding places on his uniform, Nyx finally found a bottle, only to groan despairingly on pulling it out to discover it was a mere Potion.

_A Potion? Really? All I have is a Potion?_

After staring in disbelief for a minute, Nyx grudgingly downed the Potion. Anything was better than nothing at this point.

For a moment, the potion seemed to work. Coolness spread down his limbs and he could feel his stiffness easing. But the cool faded quickly from his arm, back to the uncomfortable heat.

Nyx sighed in frustration to himself but was already resigned. He couldn’t exactly do more when apparently all his pockets were empty. Slowly he bound his arm to his chest again.

His injuries tended as best he could manage, Nyx wrapped himself in the coat against the threatening rain and curled up on the Haven. Sleep was next on his list, and despite the day only being hours old, Nyx had been awake more than 24 hours at this point, and felt he deserved the break.

His mind did not agree.

Despite the exhaustion dragging at his limbs, Nyx could not fall asleep. Hoping to distract himself enough for sleep to sneak up on him, Nyx began to plan.

The young king could be anywhere between Insomnia and Altissia, and Nyx had no way of knowing where he was, no way of contacting him, and no phone to contact him with even if he did. So how was Nyx to find him?

Wandering around and hoping for the best was not any sort of sound plan. It was possible that one of the refugees from Insomnia might have a way of contacting him… but finding that one refugee would be like finding a needle in a hay stack…

Perhaps— perhaps he could find a Crownsguard? The Crownsguard had been posted away from the Citadel— they would have had a good chance of surviving… Of course, with the rivalry between the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive as well as recent events… they would likely be disinclined to help him……

Perhaps the Marshal? The Marshal of the Crownsguard— he would surely have a way to contact the young king… and Nyx had heard rumor that he was exceedingly fair in everything…The man had never displayed the typical Insomnia Xenophobia in his interactions…

 _Okay,_ Nyx thought sleepily, finally beginning to drift off, _I have a plan... Find the Marshal… Convince the Marshal... Find the King…_

Waking up to concerned blue eyes in a pale face framed by feathery black hair rather put paid to that plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *coos* oh Nyx, you're barely holding yourself together baby.
> 
> The next chapter is covered by Part 2 of this series, "Morning of the Fall." You can either read that now or after the next chapter.


	3. A Shoulder to Lean On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also covered in Part 2 of this series, "Morning of the Fall". You can either read that now or at the end of this chapter.

Later, Nyx would be able to admit, if only to himself, that his head had not been on straight.

The events of the Fall of Insomnia had still been raw for him. The burn of betrayal had still been fresh. There was a pool of grief for his newly dead comrades and his likely dead countrymen in the city that Nyx hadn’t even begun to contemplate.

Honestly, some part of Nyx had been perfectly fine with not living to see the fallout. Living through the Fall of Galahd had been painful enough. Living through the Fall of his second home would only be worse.

Since finding himself not dead, Nyx had kept things simple, breaking survival up into bite-sized pieces that could be accomplished on auto-pilot. No input from his head required. Survival had stretched in front of him, end goal nowhere in sight, and it had promised time for everything to settle and for his emotional reaction to die out.

Waking up to find his end goal staring him in the face threw Nyx rather terribly.

He blinked, trying to focus on the eyes of Noctis Lucis Caelum. Interrupted sleep and mental exhaustion both were leaving him speechless. It wasn’t until he felt a squeeze at his shoulder that Nyx realized there even was anything to feel at all.

Nyx slowly dragged his eyes away from that face to a shoulder. Then down an arm, to a hand, and to his own shoulder. It took several seconds of confusion before his brain put together the feeling of a squeeze at his shoulder with the shoulder he was looking at.

“Ow,” he said blankly, still confused. He tried to sit up; vague training in the back of his head demanding he bow or kneel to greet his King.

Sitting up was a bad idea.

Nyx made surprising progress before his entire body seized in pain. He jerked his right arm up to try and save himself from a painful reintroduction to the ground. Nyx thought he might have heard a noise, but he was too busy hissing in pain from stiff muscles that were making every movement agony.

The hand that came down and grasped his left upper arm just proved how much more he had to learn about agony.

Nyx shrieked, throwing himself away from that hand to land painfully on his back. His coat slid and pulled around him. It fell open, letting in a rain that was wonderfully soothing in its coolness.

Breath knocked out of him, Nyx was stunned to hear cursing above him. His eyes struggled to focus past the pain. When he was able to make sense of his sight again, he saw the King hovering over him, hands held a careful distance away from his skin. There was a look of concern on his face. Over the King’s shoulder hovered a tall blonde man in glasses, also looking concernedly in his direction.

Nyx was gasping slightly, trying to get his breath back. He tried to talk, only to cough. You don’t realize how many muscles are involved in coughing until every single one of them is sore and begging not to move.

A hand was pressed to Nyx’s chest, soothing him almost immediately. His body calmed under that hand, the urge to cough quieting. A warm light seemed to radiate from it, easing his aches and pains. Even the fiery pain that had been reawakened in his arm seemed to dissipate.

For the first time, words managed to penetrate his brain. “Take it easy, okay?”

Nyx huffed a silent laugh at the obvious advice but was distracted by the next question. “Can we help? Do you need anything?”

The sight of his King’s face creased in concern was not helpful. Nyx decided this after a moment too long of trying to formulate an answer. He brought his right hand up to cover his eyes. Immediately, he was able to think clearer without the sight.

“Ahhh, I could use a couple Hi-Elixirs,” he answered in a voice thinner than he liked. The rain soothed his face and hands, and it wet lips cracked by magical fire. “All I had on me was a Potion, and I used it before I fell asleep.”

Beyond his hand, Nyx heard some vague mutters and footsteps. The hand on his chest lightened like the owner had leaned away. After a moment its full weight was back, and then Nyx heard the sound of glass breaking.

The rush of the Hi-Elixir through his system was sweet. The throbbing agony of his arm was suddenly quiet. The tension that Nyx knew came with over-worked muscles and battle-fatigue washed away. The headache he hadn’t even realized was there was very pointed in its sudden release. With a relieved sigh, Nyx pulled his hand away from his eyes, stretching his back slightly against the ground just to enjoy the new range of movement.

After a minute of simply basking in the feeling of soothing magic—a novelty after the night he’d had—Nyx tried to sit up again. The motion must have been obvious, because immediately another hand was grasping the shoulder blade of his good arm and helping him upright.

Looking at his helper Nyx was once again faced with his King. Once Nyx’s eyes had fallen onto his face, there was a quirk of the lips into a tiny, apologetic smile and the king was saying, “Sorry, we only had one Hi-Elixir on us.”

Nyx mind was still sluggish with exhaustion. All he managed was a, “It’s fine, Your Majesty. I’m already much better.” Everything went fuzzy for a moment as he took a very long blink. When he opened his eyes again there was a patient look of expectation on the King’s face.

“Sorry, what,” he mumbled. He was still desperately tired. He couldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours of rest, and it was nowhere near enough for his body or his mind.

The King’s eyes seemed to soften. The hand at his shoulder blade moved to cup his elbow. The hand he hadn’t even noticed had remained, low on his chest, pulled away to reach around his hip. “Come on, you shouldn’t rest here,” he was saying. Pressure on his elbow and back urged him upwards. “You said you needed another Hi-Elixir, and this is much too close to Insomnia. Let’s get you up.”

Nyx felt like he was supposed to protest his King’s words. His sluggish mind couldn’t think fast enough to try. Instead, he obeyed the implicit order and began climbing to his feet.

The details grayed out in his mind, which meant he probably couldn’t have managed it without the help. He vaguely registered multiple hands on his body. Two other figures beyond the blond and the King making noises. A conversation.

He knew that they had made a slow shuffling progress to the road, tripping over parts of the landscape, but he couldn’t actually remember it.

He only really came back to himself when he heard a car door close. He registered that he was sitting. There was a door at his back. There was still a warmth at his elbow. His hand was gripping the rumpled folds of a jacket, pressing against a chest in front of him.

His gaze darted between his hand and the face that chest belonged to. His King stared back at him with a furrow in his brow and a frown pulling at his lips. Nyx tried to say something. He didn’t know what. His voice wouldn’t work.

“Hey,” the King spoke softly instead, “you can rest. It’s okay.”

A strangled noise caught in Nyx’s throat. His body relaxed. Without his consent he folded over, his forehead coming to rest on that chest. His hand loosened and slid freely until it was caught in the folds of the King’s jacket without any input from him.

Nyx heard the other doors opening and closing. More people got in the car. He felt the engine start with a purr underneath them. The car began to move.

The warmth at his elbow vanished and a hand came to rest on his back. Cradling him.

Nyx closed his eyes.


	4. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, forgot to post this this morning.

Nyx was alone in the car.

“Just stay here, I’m sure it won’t be long,” the young King had said before he and his retinue had exited the car and left him there.

Nyx leaned on the door behind him, unable to fall back asleep. Part of him was cataloguing the view out the windows, the restaurant in the distance and store in front of him. The rest of him was numb to the world as he struggled to put his thoughts in order.

The entirely too short catnap Nyx had fallen into had at least stilled the reeling in his head. He could still feel the grief lurking in the dark corners of his mind, but it was no longer looming just over his shoulder, threatening to break him. Rather, everything he had to do now was weighing on him instead.

With a shiver, Nyx closed his eyes and just breathed for a moment. _Bite-sized pieces,_ he reminded himself. _You’ve just been dropped into someone else’s mission. Sit-rep._

Opening his eyes again, Nyx starting laying things out in his head.

_I am safely out of Insomnia._

_I am not being pursued._

_I am in a safe place… physically,_ Nyx conceded. _Next._

 _I was injured,_ Nyx reminded himself, thinking grudgingly of the beating he had taken in the night.

Forcing his mind away from those memories, Nyx firmly thought, _I and others have tried to heal those injuries_. So, how was he now?

Wincing preemptively, Nyx began stretching against the car door he was leaning on. There was still the burn of over-worked muscles, but by and large the sharp pains and overwhelming aching seemed to have faded.

Feeling slightly less pessimistic, Nyx shifted his coat and looked down at his arm. He winced again.

It had retained the same ash grey color he had observed earlier, and paying attention now, Nyx could feel an unnatural heat in it. When he tried to wiggle his fingers, he ended up slapping a hand over his mouth to strangle the scream that tried to escape.

 _Well,_ he thought, momentarily lightheaded, _that’s still broken_. It was a hysterical thought but summed up his feelings on the matter rather nicely.

Nyx slumped against the door when the pain had faded back into a dull burning sensation and he had managed to choke off the whimpering noises his body wanted to make. It seemed like every time he checked in on his arm it was worse. Nyx wasn’t sure if that was because it was indeed getting worse, or if as he relaxed further and further from battle mode, he was feeling it more and more.

 _Okay,_ Nyx thought, and even in his own head he seemed desperately breathless, _injuries are not recovered yet._ He took a long breath in and out. _Next._

 _I found the King._ Nyx let his eyes slip closed, and corrected the thought sardonically, _The King found me. Next._

Next… he didn’t know what was next.

He had been ordered to get the Oracle and Ring out of the city and to the young King. He had passed on that duty to Libertus.

The Captain had ordered him to rendezvous with a trap. His being a traitor rather invalidated any other orders he might have given before or after.

The ghost of King Regis had ordered him to find his son. His son had found him.

Nyx didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. The simplicity of orders to follow had deserted him, and all he was left with was trauma and questions.

_“...your only hope for answers.”_

Annnnd he was back to the young King.

Nyx sighed, and then startled badly as the door across from him opened, his eyes flying wide to land on the face haunting his thoughts.

The young King gave him a small smile of acknowledgment as he slid into the car. The other doors opened to admit the rest of his retinue, but Nyx was distracted by the hand holding a bottle out to him.

“Here,” the King said, “another Hi-Elixir. We made sure to stock up.”

It took Nyx’s brain a moment for the words to penetrate. It took another moment of bewilderment before he vaguely recalled being asked how he was back at the Haven. He had requested a couple Hi-Elixirs only to be told the group just had the one.

“Right,” Nyx said, still thrown, and reached out to accept it. “Thanks.”

Nyx considered the Hi-Elixir in his hand for a moment before sliding it into the open fingers of his left hand. Closing his right around hand and bottle both, he crushed the bottle. The liquid flashed in the darkness of the car before sinking into his left hand.

It probably made no difference, but there was a long-running argument amongst the glaives over what injuries healed first when one used a healing item. Some argued that healing items were undiscerning and gave individual injuries a random amount of healing. Others argued that healing items treated the worst of your injuries first. A third group argued that the area of application was the most important factor; that if you had a major injury you wanted to apply the item as close as possible to get the most possible healing on that injury.

Nyx had never joined in the arguments either way, but in this moment, he wanted to eke out every possible advantage. The rest of his body was feeling fine, if achy. At this point it was only his arm that he wanted healing for.

The magic of the Hi-Elixir spread through his body, immediately cooling the horrible heat in his arm. Nyx would even swear that he felt the bones in his arm begin to resonate with the magic.

After nearly half a minute, the sensations faded, and Nyx opened eyes he hadn’t even realized he had closed. A glance at his arm didn’t show any visible change, but it was no longer an agony just waiting for the chance to overwhelm him.

When he looked up again, the King was still watching him, with a dark-haired man peering over his shoulder. “How’s the arm?” the man asked.

“Still wouldn’t dare use it, but it noticeably improved this time,” Nyx answered. His lips quirked in a weak attempt at a joking smile.

The man visually assessed him for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “Take another, we just stocked up,” he ordered him, before turning his gaze on the King. “Budge up, Noct, I can’t get in with you taking up both seats,” he grumbled.

The young King rolled his eyes as he turned to situate himself in the seat. Nyx awkwardly moved his legs to try and give him room as he realized he was also taking up part of the middle seat. Before he could figure out how to rearrange himself, a hand entered his vision with another Hi-Elixir.

Nyx reached out to accept it even as he followed the hand back to a blond with freckles in the front seat. “Thanks,” Nyx said again, and the blond smiled with obviously forced brightness at him.

“No problem, man!” he said cheerfully, letting his arm drop.

Nyx repeated his procedure of breaking the bottle in his left hand, his eyes sliding shut to enjoy the feel of the soothing magic. Again, the cool spread through his arm. This time Nyx could feel phantom sensations of the magic tracing up and down the sinews and veins in his arm. His fingers twitched at the sensation.

It took several seconds for him to realize it had been his left hand that had twitched, with no accompanying agony—unlike just minutes earlier. Nyx opened his eyes in surprise and stared down at his hand.

“Huh,” he said. Slowly and carefully, Nyx flexed the fingers of his left hand. He rotated his left shoulder. He moved his left elbow awkwardly against the bindings.

There was still a deep ache, but no crippling agony. No screaming as his flesh threatened to dissolve into cinders. No biting his lips off to contain his shrieks.

There was still an ache, and his arm still had that tight, dry feeling of a burn; one that, if mistreated, would be a constant agony.

 _Gonna have to rethink my use of agony,_ Nyx thought with a mental snort. _It has a new meaning, and all my old uses of it are going to seem flippant in comparison._

Another voice intruded on Nyx’s thoughts. “Better?” it asked, startlingly close. Nyx jerked as he threw a look to his left, meeting the eyes of the driver. It was the same blond in glasses he had vaguely registered at the Haven.

“… Much,” he answered, fluttering his fingers a little. The lack of pain was still novel.

“Good,” the blond replied, already turning away.

There was a sudden warmth against Nyx’s knee and the door to the backseat slammed shut. “What was that call you got?” the dark-haired man was asking distractedly.

“That was just Dino,” the young king answered, “wanted us to swing by for some reason.”

“I dare say we can put that off until later,” commented glasses.

“Yeah,” grunted the king, “Cor comes first.”

Glasses started the engine and the car pulled out of the gas station.

Nyx was still distracted by the warm light that seemed to be radiating from his knee and blinked a little in surprise. _Guess I’m headed for the Marshal after all,_ he thought.

There was a no doubt hysterical giggle trying to rise in his throat. He managed to swallow it down but couldn’t stop the sardonic mental commentary.

 _I’m currently in a_ very _nice car, going—_ a quick glance to the dash on his left— _no more than 5 over the speed limit, heading across Leide towards the Marshal of the Crownsguard._

 _Just what I expected_ not _to happen after waking to the face of Lucis’ new King._

Nyx couldn’t stop the laugh that wheezed its way out of him this time.

The blond in the front turned to eye him in concern at the sound. “Hey, you okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Nyx went to wave his left hand in assurance since his right was busy trying to hold his laughter in. He recalled it was bound up when it didn’t manage to get anywhere. “Just thinking that this is not where I expected to end up when I fell asleep this morning.”

Nyx pushed off the car door behind him and finally dislodged the silly coat he was wearing, letting it pool around his hips. He found the knot in his makeshift sling and started picking it apart.

He glanced up distractedly at the sudden hiss of breath from the blond in front. “Geez, what happened,” he exclaimed. Nyx tilted his head in confusion. The exclamation had brought the others’ attention on to him. The King made a pained noise and reached around towards his face. Nyx froze, hand holding the just freed end of his ribbon.

The King’s arm stopped just before it reached his face. Nyx felt preternaturally aware of it, as if it was radiating a light that he could feel caressing his skin. He blinked at it stupidly in surprise.

There was a gentle clearing of the throat from the driver’s seat. The king dropped his arm with a frown. “It would seem whatever affected your arm spread up past your shoulder. There are ashy lines of the same color and texture as your arm spread over your neck and face.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” the blond asked anxiously, “What could do that!?”

Nyx grimaced slightly in memory and went back to unwrapping his arm. “Like I said, I’ll be fine. I overextended myself, used more magic than could safely be channeled at once.”

The dark-haired man, tone brusque, was quick to ask, “Could it happen again? Could it get worse?”

“Nope,” Nyx answered. “I’m fresh out after last night, and that particular boost is now entirely out of my reach.” As he unwrapped his arm, Nyx was noticing the smudges and color changes revealed. It suggested that most of what he was seeing _was_ actually ash, and his arm might look entirely different if he could wash it off. A glance at the ribbon in his hand suggested the same.

With a tiny forlorn sigh, Nyx carefully rolled the ribbon up to tuck into a pocket. He would need to clean it before attaching it to his uniform again.

That taken care of, Nyx reached towards his face to see if he could feel what the others were talking about. He stopped at the sight of his fingers, still an ashy white, and the thought of smearing that all over his face. He made a face, switching hands and dropping his left into his lap to probe with his right instead.

He started with his neck. He couldn’t feel anything in particular, but he did feel an oily residue on his neck and on his fingers. When he drew his hand back, his fingers were covered in dark streaks. Nyx grimaced unhappily and dropped his hand. If the ash was leaving such streaks on his hand, it was probably worse on his neck. He didn’t particularly want to make his face into a finger painting when he could wait for a bathroom and mirror instead.

Glancing up, Nyx could see pinched expressions on the faces of the blond and the King. “So,” he said, trying to break the awkward quiet of them watching him explore his injuries. “I don’t think I ever caught all your names.”

“Right,” the blond cried, jumping on the topic. “I’m Prompto! Prompto Argentum. And you already guessed, but this is Noct!” He waved at the King.

Nyx gave Prompto a small smile, catching the quirk of the king’s lips out of the corner of his eye. His gaze trailed over to the man sitting behind the young king, and he tilted his head in question.

The man met his eyes for a few moments before grunting neutrally and nodding. “Gladiolus Amicitia,” he greeted Nyx. “And driving at the moment is Ignis Scientia.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Scientia commented. “And you would be?”

“Nyx Ulric, Kingsglaive,” he introduced himself. “It’s good to meet you all as well.”

Prompto leaned forward, bouncing slightly in his seat. “What was that thing you were wearing?” The question was asked excitedly, as if he couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer.

Nyx glanced down and grabbed the coat from where it had fallen around his hips. “This thing?” he asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, that thing,” Prompto said with a _well, duh_ tone.

Nyx snorted slightly. “I think it’s supposed to be fashion,” he answered, holding it out towards the blond. “I just grabbed the thing to cover up anything that might capture Imperial interest.”

Prompto had grabbed the coat and begun exploring it. He gasped as he came across the price tag Nyx hadn’t bothered to remove. “Two thousand Crowns!?!?” he exclaimed in shocked dismay.

“Is it really?” Scientia commented, glancing away from the road for a moment to observe the garment a second time.

“I suppose that’s why you said it’s fashion,” Amicitia said with a snort.

Nyx’s lips quirked slightly. “It’s literally a shapeless piece of fabric with a hood, of course it has to be fashion to cost that much.”

“Man, there aren’t even any pockets in this thing,” Prompto complained. He had been exploring the coat further, refusing to believe Nyx’s description. He wasn’t having any success in disproving it though.

Nyx leaned back against the door, enjoying the dismay on Prompto’s features. He agreed wholeheartedly with the kid’s disgust. Two thousand crowns really was excessive for something that could be recreated with a 50-crown trip to the fabric store, a needle and thread, a pair of scissors, and half an hour of work.

“So, what, you just grabbed it out of a window,” Amicitia inquired.

“Yep. I was in Sector 5; most of the buildings had been battered pretty badly. This was on the ground, and it wasn’t until I grabbed it that I realized it was anything _other_ than a simple piece of cloth.

“Any value it might have had probably would have disappeared in the rain anyway.”

“Well.” Prompto brandished the coat in front him, giving it a stink-eye. “I’d say it’s _definitely_ been put to a better use as concealment than it ever would have gotten as a _coat_.” With that statement, Prompto dropped it back in Nyx’s lap.

Solemnly, Nyx scooped it up. “Thank you,” he said gravely, holding the coat to his chest like a treasure.

Prompto grinned, but Nyx was distracted by the huff of laughter that had come from beside him. Blue eyes danced above a small smirk, and Nyx felt a ridiculous surge of pride at getting his king to laugh.

He let himself relax there in the car for a while.

The sky had just begun to darken when they pulled off the paved road and onto one made of dirt.

“Just a few more minutes,” commented Scientia from the driver’s seat. And indeed, they were pulling into an outpost just a few minutes later.

Everyone began getting out of the car, and this time Nyx joined them. As he stepped out, he stumbled. One of his knees was tingling pleasantly but incessantly, and combined with his exhaustion, it was enough to disturb his balance. He caught himself on the door, but it took too long to feel steady again for his comfort.

“I dare say we should get some rest,” Scientia commented from beside him. “The Marshal can wait until morning.” He was looking over at Amicitia, but Nyx was certain the comment was for his benefit. He was pathetically grateful to the man for letting him pretend privacy as he recovered.

“There’s a caravan there, and I’m sure I saw a Haven as we were driving in,” Amicitia said. “What’s it gonna be Noct?”

“I’m gonna have to go with running water,” the King decided as he rounded the back of the car. When he met Nyx’s eyes, he gave him a gentle smile. “Besides, you look like you dearly need a real bed tonight.”

Nyx almost startled when the King came all the way up to him and grasped his elbow. He telegraphed the move clearly in case Nyx flinched, but didn’t hesitate to grasp Nyx’s ash-covered skin. “Come on.”

Nyx wanted to protest but was rather distracted. The skin-to-skin contact made it feel like there was a sun blazing through his elbow. The light didn’t burn; rather it soothed the intangible magical ache that had set in the moment Nyx donned the Ring.

He barely even noticed the trip to the caravan.

He did notice when the grasp on his elbow was finally relinquished and he was gently ushered into the shower. When he came out, he found a t-shirt and a pair of sleep pants waiting on the counter. He dressed.

When he stepped out of the bathroom a bowl was pressed into his hands. The smell wafting from it made him salivate. He devoured the food. When the bowl was empty, Nyx was hit by a wave of tiredness and swayed on the spot.

Hands directed him to a bed. His mind began drifting the moment his head touched the pillow. He was aware of murmuring and movement around the caravan. Eventually a warm body came to rest at his back. The line where they were pressed together on the narrow bed radiated heat.

Nyx’s body pressed greedily into that heat. The noise and movement in the caravan stilled, and he relaxed.

He fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. Why is your knee tingling Nyx? Can you answer me that?
> 
> Also, you should do something about those self-worth issues that are watching like a hawk as someone touches your left arm.


	5. Wisely Avoiding Things

Nyx woke up actually feeling some version of okay for the first time since things started going to shit. He stretched, enjoying the pull of burning muscles just waking up for the day. After a moment to simply bask in the nice comfy bed he was laying on, Nyx rolled over—

And came face to face with his King.

Nyx managed to strangle his shriek into a small “meep!” of surprise. He stared dazedly at the face of the man sharing the bed with him.

Black hair laid soft and downy against his pale skin. The hair was parted to frame his face, drawing attention to the soft eyelashes, delicate nose, and sculpted cheeks. Pale lips were parted slightly in sleep.

Nyx found himself barely resisting the impulse to reach out and touch the hair that looked feather soft. His urge to run those dark locks through his fingers took a long minute to settle. When it did, Nyx pointedly pushed himself upright, putting some distance between the king and himself.

Crisis averted, Nyx looked around the caravan and was surprised to realize the King’s retinue was missing. Surprised and confused, Nyx carefully maneuvered himself around and off the bed.

When Nyx eventually stumbled out the door, he found the other three sitting in chairs around a small table. Amicitia glanced up at him.

“The princess still asleep?” he asked.

Nyx snorted at the nickname. “Yep,” he answered.

“Time to get him up then,” the Shield decided, climbing to his feet.

“Please, sit. Have some breakfast.” Nyx’s attention snapped to Scientia, who was indicating the fruits and cereal set out on the table.

It took them half an hour to be ready to go. Nyx had pulled his uniform back on, looking with regret at the missing sleeve, and the others had taken care of some final morning duties. The King had risen and had breakfast. They had packed the food and extra clothes into the car.

Then they had headed into the outpost, looking for some sign of the Marshal, and had run into a Crownsguard named Monica. While the King and his retinue stopped to chat with her, Nyx had prowled the outpost, wary.

When the four had turned to head out, Nyx was already standing on the path. The King’s eyes sought his, and then flicked to the path. Nyx nodded and set out ahead of them, slow enough for the four to overtake him.

They fell into a ground-eating pace, the outpost disappearing behind the hills as the path twisted.

Amicitia huffed amusedly. “Can’t keep up with this guy.”

“First the Crown City, then Hammerhead, now the royal tomb?” Prompto interjected.

Nyx found his head tilting slightly in curiosity.

Scientia adjusted his glasses before commenting, “His nickname should have been ‘Cor the Restless’.”

“Somehow not as catchy as ‘Cor the Immortal’,” opined Amicitia.

“Making it out of Insomnia only adds to his legend,” said Prompto, voice peppy.

The King sighed. Something in the noise made Nyx glance over at him, and he caught an expression flickering across that pale face as he said, “Well, fortune favors the bold.”

The expression faded without his retinue seeing it. Nyx was stuck puzzling over it even as Scientia commented, “The wise make their own luck.”

Amicitia ended the speculation on the Marshal by saying, “You think it’s a coincidence he’s made it out of all those battles alive?”

Nyx finally turned his attention back to the path, a furrow in his brow. The young king’s expression was still playing over and over in his head. _Was that… bittersweet? What could that mean?_

Eventually Nyx had to shrug the expression off, putting it aside to deal with later as they encountered a group of unfriendly thunderocs. Prompto’s gun going off had brought all their attention to the birds.

They all readied their weapons, but it took only a moment to see just how frustrating the battle would be. Unless the birds swooped down to attack, they were firmly out of reach. The young king made a _tsk_ -ing noise in his throat before throwing his sword at the birds and warping up to meet them in mid-air.

Nyx paused where he had been adjusting his grip on his knives for a throw. Seeing the King’s warp-trail reminded Nyx that he himself was grounded before he could make the toss.

His frustration brought back his helplessness as he was forcibly reminded that King Regis had just _died_. He watched unseeing as the King warped through the sky, felling each bird with a single hit. He was caught by the furious grief and the anger at the Lucii rekindling in his chest.

The battle was short, and the three land-bound members didn’t participate at all. Thankfully, it was just long enough for Nyx to wrestle the emotions boiling in his chest back down to a simmer.

As they continued on after the battle, Amicitia again drew his attention by commenting, “Wonder what drew him to the royal tomb.”

“A morbid curiosity for the late kings of Lucis?” suggested Scientia.

Nyx unsettled emotions and recent encounters with said kings had him muttering, “An intense desire to flip them off?”

When Prompto, who had been walking closest to him, choked incredulously, Nyx realized he might not have been as quiet as he had thought he had been.

At the end of the little canyon were two towering pillars positioned like gates. One last thunderoc lingered between them, and Prompto was quick to draw and begin firing on it. He emptied his magazine into it and began reloading just as it finally dropped from the sky.

Walking past the bird’s body, Scientia announced, “We’re here.”

Past the gateway the canyon widened, and a set of stairs led up towards a small curved building. “A tomb fit for royalty,” Prompto commented as they climbed the steps.

Amicitia sighed resignedly. “Let’s go in and find the marshal.”

From the top of the steps, the tomb was larger. There was another set of steps leading downwards; it had helped disguise the true size of the building. Nyx hesitated slightly as the other four proceeded down to the door but couldn’t really hang back this time without drawing attention. And hadn’t he originally intended to find the Marshal anyway?

As he stepped through the marble doorway an unfamiliar voice said, “At last, your highness.”

Nyx gave an involuntary twitch at the form of address even as the King said, “Cor,” with warmth and relief in his voice.

The Marshal’s gaze swept their group; Nyx could tell he was verifying their status and searching for injuries. He stopped on Nyx, a slight frown appearing on his face as he assessed him.

Nyx automatically straightened, falling into parade rest under that gaze and fixing his own on the King. He answered the silent demand that had been on the Marshal’s face, saying, “Nyx Ulric, sir.”

The moment stretched, only to be broken by Scientia. “Noctis sensed him shortly after your phone call. He was only barely past the Imperial check point and was badly injured. He has only just recovered.”

Nyx could feel the Marshal’s eyes lingering on his face, likely tracing the scars that had been pointed out the day before. He hadn’t remembered to check them that morning and had been too out of it the night before to see what they looked like with the ash washed away.

Thankfully, the King broke the uncomfortable moment. He pointedly ignored any and all of the silent judgment the Marshal was giving Nyx’s unexpected addition, and said, “Tell me what I’m here for.”

With palpable reluctance, the Marshal looked away from Nyx. His gaze settled on the plinth in the middle of the room, and he extended a hand over it, as if testing for heat. His answer was spoken to the plinth. “The power of kings, passed from the old to the new through the bonding of souls.” A shiver went down Nyx’s spine, remembering the towering spectral forms in the Ring of the Lucii.

“One such soul lies before you.” The Marshal was looking at them now, two hands presenting the raised casket and bas relief to them. “To claim your forbears’ power is your birthright and duty as king.”

“Birthright and duty,” the young king muttered to himself. “The entire world, waiting on my birthright and duty.” Nyx couldn’t see the young king’s face, but the sad, bitter tone was perfectly clear to him.

Some of the harsh lines on the Marshal’s face faded. “Your father had faith in you. He always believed that when the time came, you would ascend for the sake of your people.”

The King— _or was he a prince still? The talk of ascension confused Nyx_ —raised his face, looking away from the casket and to them. His eyes seemed to have an inner glow in the strange light of the tomb. Nyx found himself involuntarily stepping closer, trying to figure out what was going on behind those eyes.

They closed, cutting off the compulsion that had drawn him forward. “I will,” he said flatly and sighed.

He turned back to the casket and held his hand out over the sword. It began to glow and float upwards, passing through the statue’s hands without problem. Nyx’s eyes wanted to follow the sword as it rose but were stuck on the tension in the King’s— _Prince’s?_ —shoulders. He had braced himself, as if expecting a mighty blow.

When the sword suddenly shot forward, Nyx was staring straight at the young king as he flinched, turning his head sharply. The ghostly images of several weapons revolved around him, one glowing blue. He didn’t turn his head back or relax his shoulders until they had faded away.

The Marshal started speaking immediately, as if he hadn’t noticed anything strange. “That’s not the only power your forebears left you. Your journey’s just begun; another tomb lies close by. I suggest you head there next. There are tombs scattered across the land; all are on dangerous ground.”

The Marshal’s cadence paused, and he turned to look at the rest of them. “I’ll go with you, for the time being.” Nyx’s neck prickled as the Marshal seemed to focus solely on him. “Not only to help, but to get a measure of your strength.”

The silence after the Marshal spoke stretched. His words had seemed to be addressed to the King— _Presumptive King?_ —but he had been looking at Nyx as he said them. The unknown element was obviously bothering him. Finally, the King— _Prince? Nyx really needed to figure this out_ —seemed to come out of his reverie with a shudder and turned to the entrance.

“Where’s the nearby one?” he asked, voice distant.

“Keycatrich Trench,” the Marshal answered, gaze switching back to the young king and brow furrowing. “We know there to be a crypt deep inside the tunnels.”

The king still seemed distant, but he nodded and headed out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. What _are_ you thinking, Noct? What's going on here that has you wound so tight?


	6. To Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm. Feeling like a two-chapter day.

When they had exited the tomb, the group had been unpleasantly surprised by a pack of sabertusks. The battle hadn’t taken long, but Nyx had felt a watchful gaze on his back the entire time.

“Don’t get too full of yourselves over that,” the Marshal had commented afterwards.

Walking now through the small canyon, Nyx couldn’t stop from asking the question that had been bugging him. “So, I’m confused about something.”

Nyx could feel the gazes of Scientia and the Marshal focus on him, and the tilts of the others’ heads showed they were listening as well. He waved towards the front, where the King was leading the way.

“Is he… How…” Nyx groped for words. Finally, he gave in and asked bluntly, “Is he officially a King or a Prince?”

Prompto snorted a laugh.

Scientia however graciously answered him. “While Noctis is now the sole vessel of royal power, and his word carries the weight of a King’s, his official title of record will remain Prince until he ascends the throne,” he explained clearly, and then moved to adjust his glasses. “There is even historical precedent in the official histories. Events that occurred after the death of the previous monarch but before the ascension of the next refer to the uncrowned ruler as Prince or Princess rather than King or Queen.”

Nyx absorbed the information before he nodded to himself several times. “Right,” he muttered.

The King— _Prince, it was officially Prince_ —

The _Prince_ glanced back at him over his shoulder. “Honestly, unless someone wants an audience or I’m in the Citadel, titles are a pain,” he stated firmly. “Just call me Noctis.”

Nyx’s pace stuttered for a moment and he stumbled to a stop. “Uuuhhh,” he squeaked embarrassingly. The Prince slowed his pace, maintaining eye contact. Nyx gulped helplessly.

“I’ll... work on that,” he temporized desperately.

Nyx nervously looked around at the others, trying to shake off his surprise. Scientia had paused and was looking at him contemplatively.

He met Nyx’s eyes after a moment, but if he was about to say something it was lost when the Marshal spoke.

“Long years ago, we waged a fierce battle here against the empire.” Nyx’s eyes were dragged to the front of the group. They had exited the narrow canyon into a wider one. Over the ridge, Nyx could see Imperial drop ships zooming through the sky. “It all went to ruin, and after that, the empire moved in like it owned the place.”

“Trespassers in our own lands,” Scientia muttered, likely also spotting the ships.

The drop ships halted and began descending, dropping out of sight. Nyx frowned. Given the Marshal’s words, they would likely have to go through whatever had just arrived on those ships in order to get to their destination.

Indeed, the canyon was now twisting towards where the ships disappeared, the two walls falling away from each other. There were ruins scattered in the open space, though the road curved to follow one of the walls.

And positioned along the road were MTs.

They had a large gun set up and Nyx spotted several snipers positioned on top of piles or ruins. Thankfully they were still out of range, but it looked like a couple had spotted them, as they took up aggressive stances and aimed at the group. In the distance, far beyond this group of troopers, Nyx spotted the movements of a Magitek Armor.

It was Prompto who spoke up. “Err, how do we get through all that?”

The Marshal seemed to shrug. “Take ‘em head on or sneak up from behind. The choice is yours.”

There was the sound of crystals shattering, and Nyx glanced over to see Prince Noctis taking a few practice swings with a sword before he leveled the tip at the MTs. “Head on is just fine,” he declared flatly, and started forward.

Since he was looking at the group, Nyx saw when the Marshal summoned his sword in a flash of magic, and his mouth fell open. _How—? He still has access to the royal magic? How is that fair,_ Nyx flailed, internally, just a little.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the Prince declared, “I’ve got the snipers,” before he threw his sword and disappeared in a warp.

The fight turned out to be pretty easy, despite the numbers against them. Nyx and the Marshal had plowed their way across the field, not bothering to kill the MTs in their way, to reach the stationary gun. They managed to take it out before it could put anyone down for the count.

While the Prince was taking out the snipers, his retinue had fallen into a pattern of covering either Scientia or Amicitia as they took down MTs one at a time. With the gun out of commission, Nyx and the Marshal had circled back to them, taking down whatever was left. The Prince had quickly joined them. The MTs, already damaged when the veterans had dashed across the field, had fallen quickly.

As they regrouped, the Marshal asked, “You alright, highness?”

Nyx glanced up just in time to see a tiny smile quirk up Prince Noctis’ lips. “Of course.”

“And you, Marshal? Ulric?” asked Amicitia.

“No problem,” came the Marshal’s response.

“Just fine,” Nyx chimed in firmly. He was already turning his focus back to the road, trying to find the Magitek Armor he had spotted earlier. Unfortunately, the ruins provided ample opportunities for the things to hide, and plenty of blind spots.

After a moment the group of them proceeded down the road again, following the Marshal’s indication. Thankfully for Nyx’s blood pressure, they only had to pass two ruined buildings before they found the Magitek Armor patrolling around a dropship.

Scientia pointed it out. “A Magitek armor…”

The group was silent for a moment, taking it in, until Prompto worriedly commented, “How dangerous is that thing?”

“It’s actually pretty simple in terms of what the Empire _could_ field,” Nyx told him, “plenty dangerous to a civilian, certainly worse than the MTs, but not worth getting worried about.”

Scientia adjusted his glasses and nodded at him. “Indeed, this particular model only rates as mildly dangerous.”

“Shall we?” Nyx glanced over to see Prince Noctis with his head tilted questioningly at the armor, leaning forward slightly.

“Think you’re up to it?” asked the Marshal, casually re-summoning his sword. “Let’s see what you can do.”

The battle went almost as well as the previous one. The Prince had managed to warp on top of the armor and sever its missile launchers before it could litter the battlefield with mines. The rest of them had moved in to try and knock its legs out from underneath it.

There had been a bad moment when they had been surprised by a second Magitek Armor. It had been hidden from view behind the dropship and launched missiles at them immediately as it came into sight.

The Prince had managed to shout a warning in time for them to brace themselves. Prince Noctis had then taken it upon himself to engage the new opponent, a cry of, “Prompto, cover me,” their only warning of his plan.

Nyx had distinctly heard Scientia and Amicitia curse as the Prince warped away, but all the close-range fighters had been a little too busy with the first Magitek Armor to disengage. The armor had gone down only minutes later. When they had turned to face the second armor, they had found Prompto hollering a victory.

“Impressive,” the Marshal commented, surveying the armor that Prince Noctis and Prompto had taken down alone. “Not bad. You’ve come a long way.”

As they took a moment to catch their breath, Nyx noticed the Prince giving his friend a fond smile. He couldn’t stop his own lips from twitching upwards slightly as well.

The moment passed, and Prompto commented, “So where are these tunnels?”

“Just over there,” the Marshal said, indicating where the road they had followed ended at the base of a cliff.

Nyx hadn’t quite looked away from Prince Noctis, and so he noticed as the smile slid off his face and his lips turned downwards. It only lasted a breath before his face smoothed out into an impassive expression.

“Guess we better get a move on,” the Prince murmured.

It was apparently all the signal they had been waiting for as the group set off. Once they were back on the road, Nyx could see how the path slipped down into the earth, a tunnel mouth with a rise on either side of it.

As they headed towards it, Prince Noctis made a sound of surprise. He broke off to scramble up the embankment, and at the top bent to pull something from the dirt. “Prompto,” he called. “Look.”

The Prince was holding up a strange hunk of metal. Nyx squinted at it in confusion even as Prompto let out a squeal of excitement. “Dude! Good spotting,” he cried.

As Prompto darted forwards, the hunk of metal finally resolved into a piece of machinery for Nyx. From the way Prompto was checking it over and exclaiming excitedly, Nyx concluded it must be some kind of weapon.

“It looks rather worn,” observed Scientia, also examining it. “Cid could likely help upgrade it.”

“Guess we better keep an eye out for parts, then,” Prompto commented cheerfully, sending the weapon away in a flash of magic.

With that diversion finished, the group headed into the dark opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you made a note of whatever it was you wanted to say, Ignis.


	7. Enter the Tunnels

A few feet inside the tunnel, Prince Noctis paused and glanced back. Nyx was grateful for the chance to let his eyes adjust to the darkness and followed the direction of his gaze to the Marshal. After a moment or two, a subtle frown crossed the Prince’s face and he turned forward to continue. _Was he expecting the Marshal to say something?_ Nyx wondered to himself.

Their group of six continued into the dark, all of them bar Nyx turning on flashlights affixed to their clothing. Nyx grimaced at the unfortunate necessity, already anticipating the sickening vertigo of flashing beams and alternating patches of darkness and light. The wide walls and high ceiling of the first chamber turned into another manmade tunnel, sloping downwards. Within a minute it opened up into a more natural cavern. Something glinted at the back of the cavern, and Prompto exclaimed, “Look!” directing them towards it.

“There’s a door,” Amicitia observed as they drew closer.

Prompto was practically turning in circles, trying to take in the details of the cavern. “What is this place,” he wondered, stopping for a moment as his flashlight fell on the wall of sandbags several feet deep, and taller than he was.

“It appears to have been a shelter,” Scientia answered him, inspecting the rusted metal doorway set into the rock.

“People lived here?”

“It’s a good location,” the Marshal spoke. “When the Empire brought the battle here, people fled the fighting, but they didn’t want to flee their homes. It seems they took refuge here instead.”

Prompto had grown still as the Marshal spoke. Nyx slanted a look his direction, noting the downturned angle of his face and the way shadows fell across his eyes and mouth, hiding the shape of his expression. Whatever mood had come over the blond vanished as they started down the stairs beyond the door, curiosity returning with a vengeance. “What this? A cable… Wonder where it leads.”

Scientia was again the one to address his statement. “We can follow it and see.”

The Prince apparently agreed, because that’s the way he led them. The cable ended at a generator. “Might still run,” Prompto speculated, “start her up?”

Starting the generator brought on the overhead lights strung through the tunnels, and the blond breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Nyx, personally, was just grateful to have some light other than the flashlights. Mystery of the cable solved, they headed back to where the path had split and followed the second branch deeper into the tunnels.

Under the constant electric lights, it became obvious the tunnels were in a bad state of repair. Prompto commented, “Don’t like the look of that ceiling.”

Amicitia, also glancing upwards, hummed and replied, “Long overdue for some TLC.”

Nyx was peering into the few side corridors they passed, wondering where they lead, but the Prince was so far forging straight ahead. Soon though, their path ended at a T intersection. As the group entered it, there was a metallic clang, and Prompto jumped nearly a foot in the air, exclaiming, “What was that!”

“My bad,” Amicitia said curtly, “kicked a can.”

Prompto managed a shaky exhale, complaining, “You are killing me here, big guy! Are you trying to give me a heart attack here or somethin’!?”

Nyx heard a faint snort from Prince Noctis as he began heading left. Nyx was a few paces behind him as headed for a pile of rubble, stooping down to grab something just as the whole place trembled, bits of dust falling from the ceiling.

Nyx cursed quietly, tensing to dart forward and pull the Prince away—a pile of rubble meant the ceiling had already collapsed once and would be even weaker now, _shit_ —but the Prince was already moving back, holding himself on his toes in case they had run or dive out of the way of something. They were all tense for a moment, waiting to see what might happen, but the rumbling settled quickly.

“If it’s all the same to you guys,” Prompto began, voice throbbing with tension, “I’d rather not get _buried alive_.”

Everyone took a moment to breathe. They could all feel a tension building, a pressure to finish quickly and get back out of the tunnels before anything further could collapse. Ignis was the one to put it into words though, saying, “Let us be quick.”

“Ah,” said Prince Noctis, posture relaxing as he turned away from the dead end. He glanced down at the object in his hand for a moment, and then over to Nyx. After a moment, he realized the Prince was looking at his bare arm.

Prince Noctis parted his lips, almost like he meant to speak, but was silent. Nyx felt his skin prickling, and the longer the moment stretched the more aware he was of the scars on his arm. “Ulric.”

The moment broke. Nyx blinked and found the Prince standing in front of him. He was still trying to pull himself back together from where his anxieties had gotten him lost in his own head, but managed a “Yeah?”

“Here,” and Prince Noctis held whatever it was he had found out to him. Nyx fumbled only slightly as he accepted it. “The Kingsglaive uniform has some great protections but missing a sleeve won’t do you any favors.”

It was a bracelet.

For a moment Nyx’s mind was blank before he managed to kick it back into gear. _Carbon Bangle,_ he identified belatedly. _Force redirection magic. Mass produced for the army several kings ago,_ continued the litany that had been drilled into them by the quartermaster. _Production facility located in greater Lucis; access lost shortly after the Wall was retracted, destroyed soon after by Imperial forces. No new stock will arrive,_ don’t _lose it in the field._

 _Well,_ he thought dryly, _guess someone didn’t get the message._ The deadpan humor steadied him enough to choke out a, “Thanks,” even as he was already mechanically sliding the bangle around his bare wrist.

Prince Noctis nodded at him, and then headed past him to the other passage. It was blocked by a gate similar to what they had seen at the entrance, which creaked open easily at the Prince’s touch. Prompto made a pained noise at the sound and muttered something Nyx didn’t manage to catch through his scrambled thoughts. Amicitia’s chuckle, though, came through loud and clear. “What, too atmospheric for you?”

There two kept muttering at each other, but Nyx didn’t try and make out what they were saying. The passage beyond the door quickly ended at another T junction, but this time Prince Noctis ignored the direction blocked with rubble and advanced down the open corridor.

A short distance down the corridor, a set of green metal doors appeared. Amicitia tested them when they drew abreast, but they were locked up tight. As he sighed and stepped back, however, Prompto gasped, “Did you see that?”

The blond’s tone was just on the edge of freaking out, and Nyx tensed. “Something ran past,” he explained, pointing a shaking hand at the mesh that replaced the bottom foot of the door.

“What was it?” Scientia’s voice was serious, and the glance Nyx flicked his way caught only concern.

His glance flicked to Amicitia next, finding the Shield equally serious. “Dunno,” he said, obviously considering. Having been the one to test the doors, the man would have had the best chance of also catching a glimpse of whatever Prompto had seen.

“It’s not going to stop us,” Prince Noctis said quietly.

“Uh, we’re not going to run?”

“Prompto, we’re the strongest thing in these tunnels,” the Prince told him reassuringly.

Nyx, meanwhile, was coming to the realization that the Prince’s retinue had apparently never explored a dark, abandoned pit in the earth before. He found himself eyeing the Marshal, one eyebrow arched incredulously. The man looked back at him, expression inscrutable, but gave a tiny shrug.

 _It’s like that, then,_ Nyx thought, looking away with a tiny sigh as the group started moving again. _So. Well-trained, but little experience._ They peered down a side passage sealed with another gate. Prompto tested this one and muttered, “Locked. Total shocker,” when it wouldn’t budge.

 _I’d guess never been out of Insomnia. Well,_ he corrected himself as they examined an old well in the floor, _in a mission sense. The Prince did go to Tenebrae as a child._ They moved on. _He seems to be the most at ease with this, and he knew to immediately go for the snipers and the missile launchers when we fought earlier. Does he—_

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Prompto shrieked. Nyx, paying more attention to his thoughts than his surroundings as he was, almost jumped out of his skin. They had come to a room filled with more sandbags and an old army-issue canister of ice magic; as Prince Noctis had stepped into it a fierce banging had come from behind another set of doors.

“Whatever it is, it’s playing with us,” Amicitia rumbled in reply to something Nyx hadn’t heard. Despite knowing the likely culprit, he was still stuck trying to calm his racing heartbeat.

As they moved further into the room, Prompto called, “Hey, wait.” When the Prince threw a glance his direction he explained, “Neeeeeed to brace for this.”

Nyx thought he might have seen a smile playing across Prince Noctis’ lips as he turned away, heading towards the far corner of the room. Prompto was standing in front of the doors, taking deep breaths to psych himself up. Prince Noctis stooped to grab something from the ground. He stood, twirling a coin between his fingers just as Prompto nodded determinedly. “Okay. I’m gonna’ count to three. On three, you open the door. Got it?”

The rest of their group was also positioning themselves to be ready for whatever might come through the doors. Prince Noctis definitely had a smile now. “Sure Prom. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Alright. Okay.” Prompto nodded to himself. “Here I go.

“One.

“Two.

“Three.”

The door rattled, but didn’t open.

The breath the retinue had been holding went out of them. “Different door, same story,” said Amicitia, managing to sound disappointed despite his tension.

Since they had reached a dead end, they turned around. As they left the room, there was a clanging from the passage on their left; when they peered down it, they discovered there was another gate, just barely visible, standing open. Curious and wary in equal parts, they passed through it.

There were stairs, and at the bottom the rough-hewn passage turned to the right. After a couple feet the wall on their left gave way, opening up into a natural cavern. The lights strung throughout the tunnels were strung here as well, one of them pinned to the wall and shining a light on the sandy ground at the back of the cave.

Actually… Nyx squinted. There was something there, half-buried in the sand but shining despite that. “Is that an Ether?” he asked, pointing it out.

“Huh,” muttered Prompto, “looks like. That’s pretty convenient for us.”

Prince Noctis moved forward, heading for the bottle. Amicitia followed, making a grab for him and missing, already giving an exasperated, _“Noct,”_ when Prompto gasped, “Above us!”

Nyx jerked his gaze upward, just barely catching a fading trail of purple light as Amicitia cried, “Look out!” There was a sound of crumbling rocks, the cavern trembled for a moment, and then bits of the ceiling started falling.

They all scrambled out of the doorway to make room for Amicitia and the Prince to dash out. Before they had to consider frantically making a break for it, the trembling calmed. There was only the soft _shish_ of dust streaming out of the ceiling with the occasional _plink_ of a larger rock losing its fight against gravity.

“Well.” The Marshal’s voice was dry as the dust settling in the other room. “That was exciting.”

Slightly cowed by the Marshal’s ‘judging you’ stare, the group silently agreed to pretend the cavern thing had never happened, and continued down the passage. Just a little further on it made another turn to the right and went up a set of stairs.

At the top was a closed gate that swung open easily under Scientia’s touch. Stepping through, they were back on the main corridor, and Nyx recognized the gate as the one they had tried to open earlier. _Guess the lock is one-way._

Given what Nyx suspected they were dealing with, he turned left, back towards the locked doors Prompto had seen something behind earlier. Not too surprisingly, one of the doors was flung open as he approached, someone making an exclamation of surprise behind him.

The room they found had several crumbling walls that looked like they once divided the space. Bricks from said walls littered the floor and piled in the numerous corners. Ever the Shield, Amicitia declared it, “A place to lurk if I’ve ever seen one,” as they cautiously passed through it to the tunnel beyond.

Almost immediately, there was a split, but a moment’s glance down the left fork showed it had collapsed. With the Marshal’s judging silence at the back of the group, they hurried down the right fork instead. The floor was uneven, dipping down for a few feet and then coming back up at another gate. This one wasn’t locked, but beyond it was a pile of boulders blocking their way.

It seemed someone else had been this way before, though, because a small gap had been cleared near the ground. There was a particularly big boulder acting as a “roof” on the opening and one of the cables from the generator lead through it. On the other side was another large, natural-looking cavern. The only direction for them to go was a set of doors where the wall tapered, and that’s where they headed.

As they approached them, Prompto commented, “Hey, didn’t we already—”

The doors burst open with a bang, flying off their hinges as a pair of goblins filled the doorway. Nyx’s weapons were in his hands without him consciously thinking about it even as Scientia, Amicitia, and Prompto exclaimed in shock. Prince Noctis seemed to have the same instinct as him, blue already fading around the sword in his hand.

The fight—if it could be called that—was over almost as quickly as it had begun. Prince Noctis warped into the first goblin, knocking it over, and came back up turning into a blow that neatly beheaded the second. The Prince’s retinue hadn’t even fully materialized their weapons when he banished his own a flick of the wrist.

The adrenaline was still pounding through Nyx’s veins as he shoved his knives back in their sheaths. _Six damned_ goblins _,_ Nyx thought with vitriol. _Hate them,_ he swore, thoughts full of profanity, _Those fuckers._

Beyond the now busted doors was a room with a familiar canister of ice magic. _Full circle, great,_ Nyx thought, still feeling pissy about the goblins. _We must have missed something._

As they headed back down the main corridor, Prompto made a sound of puzzlement. “What is it,” Amicitia asked.

“That. Wasn’t there before,” Prompto indicated something green lying in the pool of light around the well they had inspected earlier. Prince Noctis moved forward to snatch it off the ground. As he stood back up, goblins dropped from the ceiling.

These ones were cleverer, dropping on all sides of the group, but it didn’t help them. Nyx and the Marshal both immediately turned outwards, going for the ones that landed at the back of the group. The daemons made shocked cries as they died and Nyx turned quickly, not wanting to have any of the others at his back.

He needn’t have bothered. All that was left of them was a small puff of daemonic smoke already dissipating in front of Prince Noctis.

For a moment there was silence.

Scientia was the one to break it, giving a small cough and adjusting his glasses. “Regretful as falling for that trap was, I believe we have found a way to proceed.” He indicated the wall opposite the well and when Nyx turned to look, surprised, he realized that there was indeed another passage. More specifically, a passage they _hadn’t explored before,_ so discernable because, like the tunnel they had been in earlier, it was blocked by a fall of rocks.

Once through, they decided to follow the lights to the right. It led them to another cavern, and while Prince Noctis continued forward to its far corners, most of the group paused in the middle. “A dead end,” Scientia remarked, unimpressed.

Prompto, who had followed the Prince further, fretted, “I could have sworn this was it,” which was about when the lights cut out.

Even as Nyx turned resignedly towards the cave opening, Amicitia was lowly exclaiming, “The hell?”

Prompto seemed the quickest on the uptake as he cried, “Somebody, turn on a light!” As the retinue worked on sorting their wits out, Nyx heard the chittering laughter fast approaching and readied his knives.

The group of goblins wasn’t that big, but they knew how to take advantage of the tunnels’ instability. A small boulder landed beside Nyx, just grazing his arm. It was enough warning to throw himself backwards, away from that part of the ceiling, just in time for more chunks of rock to fall. He was rising from the crouch he’d fallen into just as a sword flew past him, trailing blue, and Prince Noctis warped into one of the daemons.

There wasn’t anything left to fight after that point, the Prince taking the goblins out efficiently with one blow each.

As they slowly picked their way out of the cavern and back towards the unlighted passage—not that it made a difference anymore—Prompto spoke, “The generator… it must have died, huh?” He was obviously beginning to put the pieces together and doubted his conclusion.

Nyx would give the man a bone. “Goblins are the worst daemons on the face of Eos. They’re also scrawny things that can’t back up the shit they pull.” Somehow, Prompto’s silence did not seem like one grateful to have his thoughts confirmed. Ah, well. Goblins. Nobody liked those fuckers.

The passage soon ended at what looked like a landslide. It hadn’t completely been sealed off, however, as two sheets of metal seemed to have resisted being moved enough to leave a very thin passage between them.

Turning sideways, they shimmied through into a new section of the tunnels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nyx. Nyx, what was that. Nyx. Nyx, your self-esteem is such shit that you actually _lost a few moments_ from anxiety.
> 
> Also, a small peak into Nyx's head: fuck dark pits in the earth and fuck the goblins that infest them.


	8. Dark Depths

After finding an Elixir laying in the middle of the tunnel, they had decided to take a side passage. It was rather rough with water dripping from the ceiling, but it had led them around to another set of locked green doors and a gate that stood open.

The passage past the gate was joined by another that looked like the way they hadn’t taken, so they continued straight. Further on there was a closed gate, but it gave way with no resistance. When the end of the passage was just barely visible in the light of their flashlights—another collapse—doors appeared on their right. For once they opened on their first attempt.

The room beyond looked like it had been used as a storage room; it was littered with barrels and metal shelving. There was even an old canister of fire magic propped against the wall. Chairs were positioned around tables made from army-sized crates.

“Wait. Hear that?” While they had been looking around there had been a soft hissing noise but it had stopped with a squeaking sound, followed by the steady dripping of water into a puddle.

Given that these were _goblin infested_ tunnels, Nyx knew it had to be their fault; but from the beginning Prompto had been expressing the worry/hope that there might be people left that they would be intruding on. Now hearing what sounded like someone finishing a shower was playing into that.

Prince Noctis gave Prompto a look before proceeding to the single door in the corner. Inside they found a locker room with showers, but no presence. “Nothing,” Prompto muttered. One of the shower heads was still dripping and the floor around it was wet, but that was the only sign they found of what they had heard.

“That’s weird,” Amicitia declared. _That’s goblins,_ Nyx thought.

The attack came when they exited the locker room, but it wasn’t goblins. Instead, two tarantula daemons were waiting for them.

Prince Noctis gave a startled curse at the sight of them, and suddenly the far one was consumed in a burst of fire. Nyx was impressed; he hadn’t even seen the Prince move and already one of them was down. Prince Noctis turned to face the second, but stopped. Scientia and Amicitia were already moving in, and the Prince seemed to decide to give them the chance to engage for once.

The two men did well at staying out of each other’s way, each getting a number of hits in. Prompto got in on the action too, getting off a couple bullets when he had a clear shot. It took a minute, but they managed to put the daemon down without injury.

When the daemon’s body finally dissipated, Prince Noctis let out a sigh and reached up to run a hand through his hair. After a moment he dropped his hand again. “Let’s keep going. It can’t be long now.”

With that quiet declaration they headed for the double doors in the other corner of the room. Moments later Amicitia, in the lead for the moment, nearly tripped over a piece of machinery lying on the floor, invisible in the dark.

“You okay, big guy?” Prompto hurried forward and scooped the weapon off the floor. “I’ll get this out of the way. You didn’t hurt yourself, did ya’?”

“I’m fine, blondie. Seriously, who leaves a weapon lying in the middle of the hallway?!”

The Marshal snorted, speaking up for the first time in a while. “You’ll find it’s rather common in the dark corners of the world. Something about the places daemons love causes people to leave their weapons as they flee.” The Prince threw him a long look at his words, a pain in his eyes that Nyx couldn’t find an explanation for.

They proceeded forward again. A passage appeared on their left and when they peered down it, a bottle sparkled in the light of their flashlights. As Prince Noctis scooped up the Hi-Elixir, Prompto quietly worried, “The people here sure didn’t do a very good job at cleaning out the place when they left.”

That passage also ended only a little further on where the ceiling had come down and they backtracked. Going straight now, they came to another set of doors in the seemingly endless number of them in these tunnels.

Beyond the doors was the most spacious room they had seen yet. There was more metal shelving, some kerosene tanks, boxes, and crates. As they moved away from the doors they had entered by and towards the middle of the room, Nyx noticed another set of doors to their right that were likely the locked pair they had encountered earlier.

And then a spider fell on them.

It was an Arachne daemon that had apparently been lurking on the ceiling. Scientia and Prompto were knocked on their asses. “Really?! Again,” Prompto squawked as he scrambled to his feet. Amicitia had already darted in, calling up a shield to guard his comrades.

The Prince, clear of the daemon, cursed and called, “I’m out of fire.”

Scientia, on his feet again, calmly responded, “We’ll do this the hard way then.”

Amicitia dropped his shield and summoned a broadsword instead, taking a swing at the giant spider. Nyx darted in while its attention was on the Shield and hacked at one of its leg joints—it was of a height with his shoulders, seriously, he already hated this daemon. The daemon was quick to strike at him but he had already fallen back, keeping track of which leg he had attacked.

The focused attention of the retinue, the Prince, and himself was apparently too much for the daemon, because that was when it whipped out the balls of lightning. Nyx managed to dodge as it deployed them, and marked where they had stopped so as not to stumble into one. Amicitia wasn’t quite so lucky, letting out an “argh” when one plowed into him.

They chased the Arachne around the room several times. Nyx’s focused attacks on one of its legs were noticed and joined by first Scientia and then Prince Noctis. The daemon let out a shriek when they finally cut it off and predictably responded with another round of lightning.

The second leg came off a little faster, and when it did the daemon drooped, head dropping into range. It was immediately targeted, and the daemon let out a final cry as it died.

They took a minute to recover, Scientia checking everyone over. Nyx backed up before the man could turn his attention on him, not wanting the fuss. It was then, seeing everyone catching their breath, that he realized two things.

One, he hadn’t relaxed when the daemon had died, and two, it had only been the five of them fighting.

Slowly, he turned to see the Marshal still standing near the entrance, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword.

They stared at each other, Nyx barely daring to breath. And then, “Cor,” called Prince Noctis from somewhere behind Nyx, “You weren’t interested in joining the party?”

The Marshal’s gaze left Nyx to look to his side, and he was aware of someone moving towards them. After a moment the man let his sword drop in a glimmer of blue magic and crossed his arms. “I had faith you had it well in hand. I wanted to observe how you worked together.”

“Oh? What did you think then,” Prince Noctis asked in an indolent tone. The Marshal squinted at him for a moment before looking back at Nyx.

“Tell me, Ulric,” the Marshal’s voice was flat, “Why are you traveling with the Prince?”

Nyx slowly let out a breath. What could he say? “The last order King Regis gave me before he died,” he began slowly, “was to escort the Oracle safely to Altissia.”

There was an exclamation behind him, but it was the sharp movement next to him that had caught his attention. Nyx glanced over, meeting Prince Noctis’ eyes.  The expression on his face was laser focused.

It took a lot more effort than he had expected to wrench his gaze away. He looked back to the Marshal, taking another careful breath. “And his very last order to me,” he continued even slower, “was to seek out and help his son.”

Nyx could practically feel the confusion slowly seeping into the air from the Prince’s retinue. He held the Marshal’s gaze, refusing to waver. Finally, the man grunted, lowering his crossed arms. His eyes flickered towards the scars on Nyx’s arm.

“Like I thought, then,” he said quietly, before his gaze came back up to burn into Nyx’s face. “And where is the Ring of the Lucii now?” he demanded.

“With the Oracle,” Nyx answered, unmoved.

The Marshal eyed him for several minutes before granting him one sharp nod. “Fine,” he said.

The tension pulling his spine straight released, and Nyx let his shoulders slump for a moment before he turned to face the others. He met Prince Noctis’ gaze again.

His mouth was parted slightly, skin pulled tight around his eyes. Worry and a touch of horror seemed to be painted on his face. Nyx’s gaze flickered swiftly to the others, seeing only confusion on their faces. When it returned to Prince Noctis, he was frowning slightly in thought, eyes cast to the ground.

As he watched, the Prince opened his mouth to speak, but stopped abruptly before closing it again. His eyes flickered up to meet his, before flicking away to observe his friends. Nyx felt strangely off-balance by the deflection.

It was Scientia who broke the silence. “This is likely difficult but,” he hesitated a moment, seeming to roll the words around on his tongue. “Could you… describe what happened? When Insomnia fell?” He glanced away. “It’s… hard to accept,” he admitted. “Particularly for us, perhaps, because it seemed like we woke to find ourselves in a bad dream where Insomnia had Fallen in the night.”

Quiet stretched for a moment. When Scientia continued, it was in a voice low like a confession, “Some details might make it more real.”

Nyx drew a breath. It _was_ hard, even for him, and he had been there. How much harder must it be for them, trapped in uncertainty and not knowing anything? The only sources of information they could turn to were either under Imperial control (like the news), had been on the perimeter (like the Marshal) or dead in the Citadel.

Nyx found himself wanting to answer, to tell them what he knew, what he had seen, what he had done. He was opening his mouth to answer, but his voice caught in his throat.

He didn’t know where to start.

He glanced a little helplessly at the Prince, before turning back to Scientia. What could he say?

As he struggled, not denying the request, there was a shuffle behind him. He had stopped keeping track of the Marshal in his distraction and started when a hand came down on his shoulder. Nyx glanced at the man, eyes pleading for help.

The Marshal gave a tiny sigh and a small squeeze of his hand. “Give me a report, Ulric,” he ordered. “What happened the day of the signing?”

Nyx straightened unconsciously, mind clearing. A report. That shouldn’t be too hard. He began speaking.

~*~

“The Princess was missing. She wasn’t with the Imperial party or in her quarters. I followed a hunch that the King had made a tracking device for her safety. She had been kidnapped and was being held outside the city, with a hidden invasion fleet.

“I brought the information to the King and he authorized the Glaive to deploy. Drautos was missing, but we couldn’t wait to find him, and he turned up on comms soon after. We infiltrated the Imperial ships and found the Princess, but it was a trap.” Nyx’s voice stuttered momentarily, and he closed his eyes.

“The ship the Princess was on had some kind of giant daemon patrolling it, and it chased us. We got away and were preparing to leave when we witnessed the Wall fall.” Nyx’s cadence stuttered this time, and he managed to say, “That’s when the traitors attacked,” before his control broke. He covered his eyes and just shuddered through the emotions for a moment.

His next statement was whispered to his hand, “I don’t know that any loyal Glaive that went on that mission managed to make it out.”

It took several minutes for him to calm. Another hand landed on his empty shoulder. The warmth was soothing, and Nyx eventually managed to lower his hand and stare blindly ahead.

“The Dreadnaught was sinking, so the Princess grabbed an airship and I followed. She insisted on returning to the Citadel and the King. We arrived to find the treaty room strewn with bodies. The only people still standing were the King, the Oracle’s brother, and General Glauca. Her brother fell as we arrived, his arm taken by the Ring of the Lucii.” Nyx paused momentarily, before admitting, “It saved him from Glauca’s sword.”

He took a breath before forging onwards. “I engaged Glauca, and the King retreated with the Princess and the Ring to a hidden elevator. I managed to warp to them at the last moment, and we escaped with Glauca pursuing.”

“The elevator was connected to a passage that led to the royal garage. The King entrusted the Ring to the Princess and ordered me to escort the Princess to Altissia. He fell back and erected a barrier between us to prevent pursuit. Glauca arrived… and slew the King.” Nyx drew a ragged breath in and out.

“The Princess and I proceeded out of the Citadel in a car but were attacked by traitors in another airship. I discovered that my magic had gone with King Regis when I tried to drive them away. The City Guard helped waylay the airship, but we lost the car to some Magitek Armors. Daemons swarmed us, and I realized the Empire had planted their own tracking device.

“Drautos came on the comms just as we finished dealing with them, and explained the Empire held all the exits. He directed us to rendezvous in Sector D for an extraction.

“It was deserted when we arrived, so I proceeded forward alone. One of the traitors was waiting and shot me. He left me and pursued the Princess for the Ring. Drautos arrived just as he foolishly decided to try it on. And then—”

Nyx broke off, gaze darting around. He swallowed heavily. “The news had reported that one of the Lucian Insurgents involved in the attack was a friend. A fellow Glaive who had resigned in the wake of the announcement of the Treaty concessions,” Nyx was staring ahead sightlessly again, “he pulled up in a car just then. And he… he ran Drautos over.”

Nyx was shaking, vaguely aware of something wet on his face. “And then Glauca tossed the car aside,” he whispered.

The hands on both his shoulders tightened. There was an angry rumble behind one shoulder, and a hiss behind the other. A cut-off curse came from in front of him. None of them managed to penetrate the scenes playing out in his mind.

“He was slow,” Nyx narrated, “took his time. He waited for the Princess to reach me before he began advancing.” Nyx’s eyes were firmly on the memory. “She was thinking about using the Ring,” he explained to his blind audience. “And I couldn’t let her do that. It was my job to get her out of the city, but Glauca wasn’t going to let her go. So I put the Ring on.”

Nyx’s left hand clenched involuntarily. “I convinced them, somehow. They granted me their full power until the Sun rose, and I repelled Glauca. I gave the Ring back to the Princess and entrusted her safety, and my mission, to my friend. I summoned the Old Wall, and fought Glauca and the Empire’s pet daemon through the night.

“The dawn deadline was apt, because the full power of the Lucii was not kind to my body. I managed a killing blow on Glauca with minutes to spare. I expected to die, but the Old Kings summoned me again to talk a lot of cryptic nonsense. When they had said their piece, King Regis ordered me to find and help his son.”

Nyx wavered for a moment. He could end his report there, but the story wasn’t quite complete yet. “I stumbled my way out of the city somehow. With my arm and my uniform covered, I was just another refugee. Glauca had lied, and the way out of the city was still open. I got to Ostium Gorge with MTs marching up behind me. They set up in the old Check Point shortly after I passed through it.

“I was near collapse, so I headed up the hill to a Haven. I assessed and treated my injuries as best I could. I planned to find the Marshal, since the King could be anywhere between Insomnia and Altissia. When I woke up, the King had found me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cor: "Something about the places daemons love causes people to leave their weapons as they flee."  
> Given we know people turn into daemons, I believe they leave their weapons because they don’t need them anymore. But no one knows that, so the lack of bodies/bones suggests people fled.


	9. Conquering Companionship

In the wake of his recital, Nyx sank into himself. He wanted to fall apart, the emotional wounds he had just exposed still fresh. He resisted the temptation, trying to shut the turbulent emotions away again. They might be safe from pestering right now, but they were still inside lightless, daemon infested tunnels.

At some point, either in his fight for control or during the end of his report, Nyx’s eyes had fallen closed. There was a tug at his shoulder, pulling him around. The second hand slid away as he turned. One of his hands came up, trying to brace himself, and tangled in fabric. Arms came around him and tugged him forward to lean against a firm chest. A hand shifted up and gently pressed his head down to rest on a shoulder.

Nyx shuddered at the comfort, his attempts to box his emotions up failing. Leaning into a warm chest, cradled by strong arms, he couldn’t stop shaking. Biting his tongue to try and stem _some_ of the tide, Nyx could feel tears sliding down his face and soaking into the shoulder he was hidden against.

Of all the horrors that had occurred during the Fall, it was the betrayal that struck deepest. The Kingsglaive had been like a family. Sure, there were assholes, but every family had them. You dealt with your disgust for them, but at the end of the day, you wanted them safe and knew they wanted you safe.

Being confronted with traitors perfectly willing to kill him, who he killed easily and effortlessly when they tried, traitors who had _already_ killed some of his dearest friends… It tangled something up inside him. He grieved the glaives that had died, that he had killed, that had tried to kill him, even as he hated them.

Maybe in the Crownsguard, where co-workers were simply co-workers, the betrayal wouldn’t cut so deep. But Nyx had known every single one of the traitors, had trusted them. Beyond trust, he had regarded them as _family_.

So he leaned into the freely offered embrace, crying silent tears of grief and shook with the betrayal. He would be fine in a few minutes.

After those few minutes, Nyx’s emotions began evening out. He tried to pull away, aware of the fact that he was practically a stranger to everyone here and was likely making his comforter uncomfortable. But the arms around him merely tightened, somehow aware that he hadn’t put himself back together yet.

So, he gave himself a moment to bask in being held. There was warmth radiating from every point of contact, chasing away any cold he might feel. Its borders seemed to stretch and grow with every beat of his heart.

Nyx let his thoughts wander through the meaningless subject of warmth for a minute before he felt more like himself. When he lifted his head, the arms around him dropped and let him step back. Nyx found himself meeting the soft, evaluating blue eyes of Noctis Lucis Caelum.

Recalling the feathery brushes against his face when he had looked up, the soothing hand in his hair, the _scent_ , the _warmth…_ Nyx felt himself flush. He had broken apart in the grasp of his _Prince_. He was horribly grateful in that moment that the only light came from their flashlights.

Nyx found himself looking around almost desperately, hoping for something to distract him. He found it when he noticed the metal doors now standing open and realized the Marshal was missing.

Nyx frowned slightly, turning to encompass both the Prince and his retinue. “Where’s the Marshal?” he questioned.

It was Scientia who answered. “The Marshal said he only stayed so long to evaluate your presence. With his questions answered, he felt it better to leave. He will be keeping an eye on the Empire.”

Nyx nodded. The explanation fit with the close eye the Marshal had kept on him since the first tomb. His breaking down for those few minutes was certainly awkward and could certainly have helped chased the Marshal off, but at least it wasn’t the only reason.

Prompto sighed. “It was nice having the Marshal’s help. These tunnels are creepy.”

That seemed to be the signal to move on. With a few desultory comments about the tunnels, they set off into the next section. After only a few paces, something caught Amicitia’s eye.

It turned out to be the Royal Tomb. Prince Noctis unlocked the doors and they all went inside, Nyx going last. He lingered a moment to examine the doors, and was distracted looking around the inside of the tomb, surprised at how similar the tombs were so far.

He had to pull up sharply to not run into the back of Prince Noctis. The rest of the retinue had spread out to view the pedestal, and in Nyx’s distraction he hadn’t paid attention to how close he had gotten. Barely a foot separated him and the Prince.

Nyx was about to step back, when his attention was caught by the unnatural stiffness to Prince Noctis’ shoulders. He was braced as if for something extremely painful, and as he lifted his hand slowly towards the pedestal, Nyx found his own hand lifting as well.

His hand pressed against a shoulder blade just as a light came from in front of Prince Noctis, partially blocked by his body. Nyx felt a shiver run through the Prince even as a weight pressed back against his hand. Before he could contemplate the meaning of either action, his attention was caught by the glow rising past Prince Noctis’ shoulder.

It was a humongous axe, shining with a silver light. At the top of its rise it turned once in the air, menacing. And then it shot down to impale Noctis.

Nyx felt the Prince flinch into his hand, but there was no impact as he absorbed the weapon.

The familiar feel of magic fluttering across his senses and a crystalline tinkling sound had him jolting forward. He nearly plastered himself against the Prince’s back as he remembered what had come next.

A glowing circle of weapons appeared, centered around Prince Noctis. There was just enough room for them to avoid Nyx as they revolved. Again, one weapon glowed blue: the giant axe that Noctis had just absorbed.

Nyx observed the weapons as his heart slowed from the sudden jolt. There were swords, a mace, a crossbow, a trident… The newest weapon glowed, but Nyx found himself unable to identify what weapon the Prince had gained at the first tomb.

Finally, the circle faded away, the magic drawing back into Prince Noctis. Despite being free, and despite the awkwardness of being pressed against his Prince, Nyx waited.

After a long moment, he felt the Prince relax. It was another moment still before he straightened and surrendered the support Nyx had offered.

Nyx took a step back.

The comfortable silence was interrupted by a cough.

Nyx’s gaze swung to Amicitia and found him fighting a losing battle with a smile. Meeting Nyx’s eyes, he gave up and grinned widely. “You had a close call there,” he said.

“Indeed,” Scientia commented, a smile in his voice even if he had discreetly covered his expression by adjusting his glasses. “It would have been unfortunate if he had been hit.”

“Yeah Noct, your magic must be pretty aware of him to flow around him so naturally,” Prompto chimed in cheerfully.

Nyx was distracted from his sheepish embarrassment by a high-pitched noise, somewhere between a squeak and a whine, coming from the Prince. Prince Noctis abruptly turned around and marched past Nyx, out of the room.

For a moment after the Prince passed, Nyx wondered if he had really seen the flush riding high on his cheeks. Amicitia rumbled in amusement, and Scientia laughed softly. Nyx didn’t understand their reference, but he could recognize friends poking fun at one another.

Letting his questions at the exchange fade, Nyx put aside the worry that his actions might have been deemed presumptuous. Prompto came forward to clap him on the shoulder, and Nyx moved with him to follow the Prince. They might be done, but there was still the chance of encountering daemons on their way out of the tunnels.

Prince Noctis hadn’t gone far. He was peering down another branch they hadn’t taken at an intersection. When they came up to him, he glanced at them for a moment before turning towards the path to the entrance.

Again, Nyx thought he saw a flush on the Prince’s cheeks but dismissed the possibility. Hadn’t he himself thought how the bad lighting would prevent anyone from noticing such a thing? It was just the shadows playing tricks on his eyes.

As Amicitia and Scientia caught up to them, Prompto commented, “So, Noct borrows the old kings’ powers?”

Scientia responded with a nod. “More or less. At this rate, he’ll soon rival his Father’s legacy.”

“’The Copycat King’,” Amicitia commented cheerfully.

“Hate to break it to you, but they’ve already got an entirely different title picked out for me.”

The strange comment caught Nyx’s attention, bringing his focus back to Prince Noctis immediately. He titled his head thoughtfully at the trace of bitterness in the words.

Prompto thankfully continued talking without a noticeable pause. “Well? What’s it feel like?”

Prince Noctis sighed. “It’s… like having a second Arsenal. Except this one is stored in a different place to the Crystal Arsenal.”

There was something ever so slightly off to that statement. Like something Prince Noctis was specifically choosing not to say… Also, Crystal Arsenal? Stored in a specific place? There was some important information being casually dropped in that sentence. Perhaps that was the answer to how the Marshal had been able to summon his weapon despite King Regis’ death. Perhaps the _Crystal Arsenal_ was accessible as long the royal blood survived, even if the individual that connected one to it was gone.

“Sounds like you’ll need practice,” Scientia commented. His voice cut into Nyx’s thoughts, reminding him of their current locale. With an internal sigh, he once again set his contemplations of the crystal’s magic aside.

Thankfully, the way out of the tunnels was much easier than the way in had been. It appeared no new goblins had come creeping their way in, so all the fuss of locked doors and detours could be avoided.

They were outside, making their way through the Keycatrich ruins, when conversation started again.

Scientia slowed and turned to Nyx, meeting his eyes. “I had meant to bring it up earlier, but the Marshal distracted us.” He titled his head at Prince Noctis, “Noctis expressed to you his desire to be called by name, but the rest of us have not specified. Please, if we are to travel together, call me Ignis.”

The others had slowed and stopped for this conversation. Amicitia came to clap _Ignis_ on the shoulder but was looking at Nyx. “And I prefer to go by Gladio,” he said.

Nyx met their eyes for a long moment before nodding. “Call me Nyx,” he said with a slight smile. “My friends certainly never called me Ulric.”

“Nyx!” Prompto cheered. Then he peered suspiciously at him. “I don’t have to clarify what I like to be called, do I?”

Nyx’s smile widened. “No, Prompto, your permission was clear from the beginning,” he replied, happy to settle the subject.

Before they could start off again, a cell phone rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignis really did make of note of what he wanted to talk about!
> 
> anyone: What are the Royal Arms like?  
> Noct, internally: it's like having things stabbed into my soul  
> Noct, out loud: it's like a second arsenal


	10. Taking Stock

“What’s up?” Prompto asked.

“People to see, bases to burn,” Prince Noctis said with a sigh. “Cor wants us to see Monica at the outpost.”

Ignis commented, “Come to think of it, we did spy a large structure as we turned off the main road.”

“Ain’t gonna be easy takin’ down a whole stronghold,” was Gladio’s opinion.

“Can we really do this?” When Nyx glanced at Prompto, the worry on his face was plain.

Ignis was quick to reassure him. “The Marshal believes we can, or he wouldn’t have asked us. But first things first.”

Noctis had been silent, staring at his phone. He seemed to come out of it now, expression the firm of a decision reached as he looked up at them. “Let’s get back to the outpost then,” he said.

They passed the side canyon that led to the first tomb as they made their way back. Prompto glanced down its length and was apparently reminded of their recent battles and couldn’t resist commenting, “Man, who knew Cor was such a badass?”

Nyx could hear the smile in Prince Noctis’ voice as he responded, “Just be glad he’s on our side.”

When they reached the outpost, Nyx didn’t try and distance himself from the group this time. Having passed the Marshal’s inspection, he could no longer be bothered to worry about anyone’s opinion on his joining the royal party.

Indeed, as they met Monica, Nyx got an evaluating once-over, but there was no comment on his presence. She was thankfully brisk and to the point. A small bow and a, “Your Highness,” was the extent of the formalities before she launched into her briefing.

“The Marshal has apprised me of the plan. We’ve found a back door into the Imperial base. I’ll mark the route on your map.” Here, Monica gestured for them to hand over their map, but didn’t pause in her speech. “The way is secure. You should be able to gain entry relatively easily.”

As Monica walked away, moving on to whatever was next on her list, Ignis gave a quiet sigh. “I am loath to keep the Marshal waiting, but it is late, and we have had quite the busy day. Shall we rest here tonight?”

Gladio was quick to chime in. “Sounds like a great idea, Iggy. What’s it gonna be, Haven or caravan?”

Noctis looked up from the map, running an eye over the group. “Let’s get in another night in the caravan while we can,” he said finally. “I’m sure there will be plenty of occasions for camping out in the near future.”

Nyx couldn’t resist a little sigh of his own, “Sounds great to me.”

As they headed over, Nyx found himself lifting a hand to his face to try and feel out his scars. He would have access to a mirror in just a few minutes and finally be able to figure out what damage the Ring of the Lucii had left.

Prompto spoke as they reached the caravan. “Hey Noct, you up for some King’s Knight?”

Something about the pause that followed the question had Nyx glancing at Prince Noctis. There was a queer look on his face, almost shock, almost sadness.

“Sure Prom. That’s just what I need,” he said, voice low and heavy.

Nyx lingered another moment, foot on the stairs into the caravan, but eventually went inside to the cramped little bathroom. Putting it off wouldn’t make facing his scars any easier.

Nyx felt a wry smile cross his lips at the unintended pun. Seemed they were infecting him.

His shoulders drooped as he pulled the door to the bathroom closed behind him. Abruptly the weight of the past several days came down on him, and he dropped his head to rest against the door, suddenly exhausted.

Insomnia had fallen. The Empire had won. So many of his friends were dead, and the rest were dead to him. _He_ was supposed to be dead.

Nyx shuddered. Convulsively, his hand came up to clutch at his chest, at the light that continued to glow under his skin, undiminished. He pressed harder on the heel of his palm, and harder still as it began to ache. There was a subtle pulse to the light that he clung to, and slowly it soothed his agitation.

Eventually, Nyx dropped his hand and pushed away from the door. _No wallowing,_ he told himself firmly. _The only way to go is forward._ And forward he went, to look in the mirror.

Given the way Prompto had exclaimed over his face and the Marshal’s attention, his scars were surprisingly subtle. No one in Insomnia would have deigned to call him white, but Nyx had grown pale since leaving Galahd. It meant the scars didn’t stand out as much as they could have.

His hand came up to trace along the right side of his face. There was barely even the suggestion of a line under his fingers. A tingle that could just as easily come from his imagination as from a true sensation. When he ran his finger across the width of the scar, again, the tingle could as easily be from expectation as from actually feeling anything.

He traced the scar on his cheek again. It had somehow managed to just barely miss his crow’s foot, but it came so close that one of the points had been stretched as the scar distorted the ink. His fingers moved upwards to prod at the suggestion of white that started at the inside point of his eyebrow and swept upwards. That one seemed faint enough that it might very well fade over time.

His fingers continued over to the other side of his face.

Here again there was white pointing to the inside of his eyebrow and stretching towards his hairline that might fade in time. But there was a second branch, an actual scar where his eyebrow arched. He traced it down past his eye, and blinked as his view of the mirror was obscured.

In that momentary darkness he remembered, viscerally, the searing heat that had pulsed through his veins, the burning in his face. His eyes shot back open, a shiver crawling down his spine. He had dismissed the sensation as exertion during the fight, but the memory seemed more ominous now.

Nyx forced his gaze back to the mirror, fingers lingering just beside his eye. Shakily, he turned his head, that memory of heat guiding his actions.

There was a scar cutting through his hair.

Nyx’s breath left him in a shaky exhale.

It was the most obvious of the scars so far, his undercut exaggerating the effect. The white of the scars cut through his dark hair, the elegant curving and branching like some strange artistic experiment with pattern shaving.

His fingers shook as he traced those scars, any sensation of scar tissue drowned out by the soft bristle of his hair.

Eventually, Nyx managed to pull his fingers back onto his face. There was something raw stuck in his throat as his fingers made it back to the level of his eye. As he dragged them down, he could feel the subtle branches and braiding as the scar tissue thickened. Just below his cheek bone, the scar spread across his face. It softened as it climbed his cheekbone and faded to something that might yet heal as it reached his nose.

Nyx lingered there, on the bridge of his nose, running his finger up and down across the white patch. When he eventually traced back along the trail towards his jaw, his breath had steadied, and his throat had come unstuck. From the bridge of his nose to the point of his jaw, there was an obvious trail across his face, a slash of white.

The slash was wider at his jaw, enough for him to be sure he was actually feeling it as he ran his fingers over it. The thickest patch of scars sprouted up from that point, towards his cheekbone. If it hadn’t been for the scars in his hair, it would have been the most noticeable of all his scars.

Slowly, Nyx lowered his arm, head suddenly heavy. Braced on the counter of the tiny bathroom, he stared blankly at his hands.

 _Most noticeable of all the scars on my face,_ he corrected the thought.

His left arm was a mess of scar tissue, creeping up from where he had briefly worn the Ring of the Lucii like some kind of vine. Staring at his hands, they briefly vanished behind a memory of examining the damage on his hand in the middle of the fight and determining that, _it would have to do._ Nyx closed his eyes for a moment to force the memory away, before looking at his arm again.

There was no patch of unscarred skin larger than his smallest fingernail anywhere on the arm. Nyx knew that the magic had spread up his arm, through his shoulder, and eventually up his neck and onto his face. He _knew_ all that, but he was also exhausted from looking at his scars, from acknowledging what he survived. He wasn’t interested in exploring what the magic might have gotten up to under his clothes tonight.

Happily shoving aside all thoughts of _dealing with his problems_ and _acknowledging what had happened to him_ , Nyx made use of the bathroom facilities and then let himself out. Glancing around the caravan, Nyx noted the simmering pots on the stove, along with the lack of his companions.

He took a moment to check that none of the food was burning before heading outside to see what everyone was up to.

The answer, apparently, was phone games.

The four were sitting around the little table, all with their phones out and focused on a game. Peering over Prince Noctis’ and Prompto’s shoulders, who had their backs to the Caravan, it looked to him like they might even be playing the _same_ game.

He arrived just in time to hear Prompto comment, “Man, Noct, you are crashing and burning _so much_ tonight!”

Noctis snorted. “Geez, Prom, way to rub it in. I already know I’m missing cues, no need to point it out.”

“Indeed, it’s likely Noct will come in last place tonight,” interjected Ignis dryly.

“Man, if only someone had offered a wager this could have been your chance to force His Highness to eat some vegetables,” joked Gladio.

Nyx couldn’t help snorting. “Are you _all_ playing the same game? Together?” he asked, not bothering to drag over one of the more distant chairs and sitting down on the Caravan steps. He vaguely tried to make out whatever was on the screens of the phones.

“You got it,” Gladio drawled. “You wanna join in?”

Nyx snorted again. “I’m charmed, but I don’t have a phone.”

“Whaaaat?” Prompto asked, tone somewhere between a whine and a melodramatic wail, glancing away from his game to face Nyx. “Did you lose it or something?”

Nyx smiled at the concern on the blond’s face. “Nah,” he said, “never got one. Didn’t need it for work and didn’t need it to keep in touch with anyone. It would have been just another expense. Most of the Kingsglaive never bothered with one.” His tone turned slightly melancholy on the last sentence, but he kept smiling.

A tinny explosion came from the blond’s phone, echoed by the others, while he stared at Nyx, mouth an ‘o’ of surprise. Some high-pitched instrument played a musical ‘Ta-dah!’ and the screens in Prompto’s and Noctis’ hands went dark.

Prompto glanced away from Nyx to his phone distractedly, but suddenly sat up with an exclamation of surprise. “What! No way you managed to rack up enough points to tie me dude,” he cried, aiming a kick at Prince Noctis.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” was the smug reply, “shouldn’t have gotten distracted at the end.”

“It is quite timely,” Ignis commented. “Dinner will be done in just a few minutes.”

“You know,” Gladio began, addressing Nyx as he put his phone away, “these two are rather obsessed.” He waved a hand at Prompto and Prince Noctis. “There’s going to be a lot of phone games in the coming nights. We could find you a cheap phone when we get to Lestallum.”

Nyx found himself smiling, the guy’s sincerity was that charming. Despite being the Prince’s Shield, Gladio hadn’t actively worked to exclude him; in fact it seemed the opposite. Sure, Nyx had felt his watchfulness, it was the guy’s job, but it hadn’t been at all personal.

“Seems a little premature, I haven’t even really seen this game.” Nyx waved his hand at the group of them. “I’ll watch some other time, see what all your fuss is about. No need to make plans for a luxury when I don’t even know that I would use it yet.”

“As you like,” Ignis stated, standing from the table and fussing with his gloves. “I will go see about dishing up dinner.” With that statement he dropped his hands and headed for the caravan. Nyx moved to the edge of the steps to let him inside.

“So… Lestallum?” Nyx asked.

Gladio nodded, sprawling back in his chair. “Got a message from my sister. She managed to make it out of Insomnia and was headed there.”

There was a bit of a clatter as Prince Noctis’ phone slipped out of his grip onto the table. Nyx glanced over to see him looking at Gladio with a frown.

Gladio frowned back at him. “What is it?”

“Just,” Noctis said, and hesitated, “just a thought… Lestallum was the biggest town in Lucis outside the wall. That might attract Imperial attention eventually.”

Gladio snorted, and with a sardonic tone said, “They just got their grubby hands on Insomnia. It will be awhile before they bother to worry about territories that they already considered conquered.”

The moment was thankfully broken by Ignis emerging from the caravan with dinner. Serious conversation was abandoned, only sporadic banter occurring during dinner.

Nyx pitched in with the dishes when dinner was done, and soon they were all preparing for bed. Ignis once again produced a set of simple sleep clothes for Nyx, and he ducked into the bathroom to change, pointedly avoiding the mirror.

When he emerged, Gladio and Prompto appeared to be ribbing Prince Noctis about something. Ignis glanced away from their antics to address Nyx. “They’ve gotten into an argument. Go ahead and take one of the beds. It will help motivate them to pick up the pace.”

Nyx’s mouth quirked. The same had happened in the Kingsglaive on missions plenty of times. Whoever went to sleep first had their pick of whatever berths were available, and the idiots who put it off had to deal with whatever was left.

Nyx settled into a bed, and his eyes slipped closed to the sound of cheerful voices.


	11. Surprise Attack

Nyx woke slowly. The first sensation to penetrate his fogginess was a curious warmth, radiating from a line down his back. Lying on the soft bed, he slowly became aware of the way his body was leaning into that warmth, greedily sucking it up. The warmth seemed to have penetrated through his back, to his chest.

Nyx lay still, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, wanting to preserve the sensation of that soothing warmth. Eventually, he heard movement around him, and he came closer to wakefulness as he remembered where he was and realized the movement came from his companions.

Still, he didn’t move even as quiet voices conversed just below his perceptions. There was a rustle and a metallic _shish_ , and Nyx felt a tiny frown work its way onto his face as suddenly heat fell across his chin.

The heat felt somehow different from the one at his back. It felt… physical? Nyx could actually feel his skin being warm. He could feel the way heat built up in his face and radiated, spreading. But his back…

His back was indeed warm, but now that he was paying attention there were two different sensations. There was indeed a heat source, and he could feel it warming his skin in the same manner as the heat on his face, if lesser. But there was a second sensation, a… brightness? Yes, a brightness that radiated from the same place as the heat source. That brightness was what had reached his chest, what his body was greedily trying to suck in.

Nyx’s drifting was finally interrupted when the heat had moved up his face and fallen onto his eyes. Nyx grimaced as he woke more fully, realizing that there was a sunbeam falling directly onto his face. Someone had opened the curtains of the caravan, probably as an encouragement for waking up.

Grumpily, Nyx rolled over, away from the sun, trying to let his eyes adjust to the light. _Oh,_ he thought, blinking blearily at the back in the front of him. _Is that where the warmth was coming from?_

Nyx continued trying to blink his eyes into functioning. It was a nice back, topped by the softest-looking black locks he had ever seen. Not really thinking, Nyx lifted one of his hands to drag through the ends of those locks.

They were as soft as they looked, flowing gently through his fingers. Not really able to follow the motion with his eyes just yet, Nyx kept lifting locks of hair just to feel them fall back to the pillow. They feathered across his fingers, the sensation exquisitely delicate.

Eventually, his sight cleared, and Nyx sat up with a sigh. He was reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed, his body positively aching at the thought, but there were things to do today. Quietly, Nyx stumbled his way into his pants and boots, and then headed outside.

Again, the group had gathered for breakfast and was sat around one of the tables. Porridge was on offer for breakfast today, and Nyx sluggishly made up a bowl for himself, barely registering the comment from Gladio about, “waking up sleeping beauty”. As he worked his way through breakfast, his mind slowly started waking. Just as he finished, Gladio reappeared, prodding Prince Noctis ahead of him to the table.

Prince Noctis, who was still wearing a sleep shirt. Prince Noctis, with a head of black hair. Prince Noctis, whose hair looked rather… mussed.

Faintly, Nyx managed to excuse himself to get ready for the day. Quickly, he stumbled into the bathroom in the caravan, and managed to close and fumble the lock behind him. Safely hidden, Nyx stared dumbly at his burning cheeks in the mirror.

He had—

He had been playing with _Prince Noctis’_ hair.

He had been playing with Prince Noctis’ _hair._

He had been _playing_ with Prince Noctis’ hair.

 _He had been_ —

Nyx managed to cut his thoughts off by dropping his head onto the counter with a pained groan. He could still feel the way his cheeks were flushed, but at least his mind had rebooted.

 _Okay,_ he told himself, _you did a stupid thing. A thing that could probably get you court marshaled, if there was still a court to marshal. But the important thing,_ he thought firmly, _is no one knows you did it but you. Just— pretend it didn’t happen. Pretend you don’t remember how soft it was, or how mesmerizing—_

Nyx cut the thoughts off with a whine. He shouldn’t be thinking such things about his Prince. He shouldn’t _know_ such things about his Prince. He definitely shouldn’t be _fixating_ on such things.

 _Deep breaths,_ he ordered himself. _The only disaster here will be if it’s one of your making. Don’t let it happen again, it’s that simple._

Firmly holding the last thought in his mind to the exclusion of all others and ignoring the pink in his cheeks, Nyx got ready for the day.

~*~

After looking at the map, the group had decided that they could simply hoof it to the meeting point. It took a mere fifteen minutes to get to the parking spot they had passed two days earlier. From there, Gladio directed them towards the cliffs between the road and the ruins that had been turned into an Imperial blockade. Unfortunately, after several minutes of searching, they had had no success in locating Monica or the rumored back door.

Finally, Gladio had given in and consulted the map again. Turned out they needed to head left along the cliff until they eventually found a tiny valley where Monica had been waiting. Once again Monica had been blessedly professional, and they had split into two groups. Prince Noctis had proceeded ahead to join the Marshal and the rest of them had headed back out of the valley for the frontal assault.

As they headed for the road, Ignis spoke. “Nyx, Monica. If you don’t mind, I’d like to tag you with status monitoring magic, and tie you into ours,” he gestured at the rest of the royal retinue. “It lets us keep track of each other’s health; whether one of us has been hit by a status effect, is being overwhelmed, or needs a rescue.”

Nyx tilted his head, interested. “That sounds downright useful. Why haven’t I heard of it before?”

Monica was also regarding Ignis with curiosity, and the man cheeks were slightly red as he answered. “It is… something of a forgotten technique. As Prince Noctis’ advisor, I had access to several sensitive sections of the royal library, and His Majesty encouraged me in reading the journals of previous rulers.

“I found the spell in one such journal, and His Majesty encouraged me to try it out. I didn’t quite get a handle on it until after our departure. The journal also indicated that the spell degraded at what sounded like an exponential rate when applied to groups larger than six people. That would be why you haven’t heard of it before.”

Nyx took the information in thoughtfully. It made sense that if Ignis hadn’t been able to prove the spell was viable yet, the six-person limit would have been considered enough of a downside that it wouldn’t have been considered worth forwarding to the Kingsglaive. Still, such things could be overco—

“I would be willing,” Monica spoke, cutting through Nyx’s thoughts. “It doesn’t sound like an advantage to be disregarded.”

“Oh,” Nyx blinked himself back to the present, “yes. I would also be willing.”

“Very well,” Ignis said, a pleased little smile on his lips. He stopped, extending a hand towards Monica. After a moment, a cloud of yellow lights appeared, swirling down his arm and then out, to Monica. Ignis turned to point his arm at Nyx, another swirl of yellow light tracing down his arm and reaching for him.

The yellow lights dispersed over Nyx’s body, hovering for a few moments. As they faded, Nyx became aware of a curious sensation hovering at the edge of his awareness.

It was like something had come knocking at the edge of his mind.

Nyx closed his eyes, concentrating on the sensation. With his sight cut off, Nyx could focus on the magic sense he had developed over the years.

There was a spell, hovering before him. A little bundle of magic, folded over and over until it was a tiny package, waiting to be acknowledged. It gave an insistent little nudge, like it could feel his attention on it, impatient.

Stumbling slightly over the process, Nyx managed to reach out mentally and accept the magic.

Like it had been the tag on a zipper, with his touch it settled over him. An awareness of his companions hovered at the forefront of his thoughts, proclaiming “safe!”, “healthy!”, “all clear!”. After a moments struggle, Nyx managed to push it aside, metaphorically “turning down the volume” on the spell.

When he opened his eyes again, the spell receded even more. No longer shouting for his attention, it hovered over each of his companions, a subtle feeling of health as his eyes passed over each of them. Turning his head experimentally, until none of them were visible, the spell receded into the corner of his vision, each “healthy glow” now accompanied by a sense of identity rather than the person themselves.

Monica managed to sum up Nyx’s feelings when she spoke. “That’s certainly interesting.”

Luckily, the whole spell business had only taken a minute to settle. Ignis spent a moment checking that they weren’t having any problems with it, and then they continued on their way.

Once back at the main road, they crept slowly up it, minimizing their visibility but moving to a position from which they would be able to observe the gate. The road had a slight bend that afforded them some cover, but also made a clear line-of-sight difficult. Soon enough, they were close enough to make out the gate and its defenders through the sparse trees dotting the landscape.

There was a full squad of Magitek Axemen patrolling a tight rectangle in front of the gate, boundaries exacting enough that it could only be computer guided. A glint slightly closer drew Nyx’s eyes to a sniper standing in the grass. Automatically, he checked the far side of the road for its companion, finding the unit within moments.

“Two snipers on the ground, either side of the gate,” Nyx pointed out lowly.

“I see movement above the walls,” came the rumble from Gladio.

“Those will be the reinforcements we wish to draw out,” Monica noted softly.

Another few moments to study things elapsed before Ignis spoke. “Right then. Prompto, the snipers will be your responsibility. Your first goal should be to keep them off us and occupied. Your secondary goal is, of course, to take them out, but don’t be single-minded in your focus. Also, keep an eye out, more might arrive with the reinforcements. When the snipers are down, provide cover fire for us as you see fit.

“Remember, this is a battle of attrition. Our job is to draw their attention and their troops _out_ of the blockade.” With those words, Ignis began directing them into a formation. They rearranged themselves in their crouched positions, and then waited for Monica to signal that the wait period the two groups had agreed on had elapsed.

A minute later Monica, eyes on her watch, spoke. “Mark.”

Gladio was the first to his feet, leading the group into a run as he summoned a broadsword in a flash of blue, holding it cocked over his shoulder. Ignis and Monica were only a breath behind him in flanking positions. Ignis had summoned a polearm as he rose, and a flash from Monica cleared to reveal a sword in her hand.

Nyx, following at their backs, had only a bare moment to think to himself, _Hiding all their weapons in the damn Crystal Arsenal._ Then gunshots were coming from behind him, courtesy of Prompto hanging back as their long-distance fighter. They knocked into one of the snipers, and battle was engaged.

Gladio swept into the MTs jerkily turning to face them, Ignis and Monica following in his path. Nyx cleaned up in their wakes, making quick, efficient kills on the MTs they’d left floundering on the ground.

They’d nearly swept up the entire squad parked on the road when Prompto hollered, “Incoming!”

Nyx jerked his gaze upward in time to see the MTs launching themselves off the top of the wall, as blithely uncaring about the fall as they were when they threw themselves out of drop ships. He had to quickly jerk his knives out of the MT at his feet and throw himself into a roll to avoid being landed _on._ A virulent curse from one of the others suggested they might not have so lucky.

No longer able to maintain formation with the MTs having dropped into their midst, their combat level dropped from dominating the field and overwhelming the MTs to a more typical battlefield chaos.

Once or twice Nyx found himself near one of his companions, able to take advantage of an opening they made while they were in the follow-through. There were also a thankfully small number of times when Nyx had to abruptly abort an attack because Gladio and Ignis hadn’t seen him and had launched an attack in front of him.

This was accompanied by the sporadic sound of a gun firing. Bullets would occasionally land in MTs near Nyx, obviously Prompto’s doing. Thankfully, he must have already taken care of the snipers, because Nyx never heard any cries of pain from a bullet hitting flesh.

In this way they weathered through the second wave of MTs, and then the third. When the fourth wave began dropping over the wall, Nyx heard a voice shout, “Ignis,” in a demanding tone.

When Ignis’ voice came commandingly across the battlefield saying, “Everyone regroup,” Nyx obeyed. Ignis was the strategist, both in their current battle group and of the Prince’s retinue. Even more, Nyx and Monica both had tacitly handed him command when he had laid out their strategy and formation and they hadn’t argued. And so they fell back, forming up around Ignis, all five of them, backs to the road and facing the MTs now milling about confusedly in front of the gates.

Nyx was surprised to feel a cool rush of magic spreading through his body, and took his eyes off the MTs to look around, tensing. There was a faint green glow swirling around them, lingering over scuff marks and wrinkles in their clothing. Ignis was standing at the back of the group, two fingers on one hand pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, an expression of fierce concentration on his face.

It was that, seeing the way the green hovered like a cloud around Ignis but curled in tendrils around everyone else, that allowed Nyx to finally recognize the feel of the magic as Ignis’. The sudden tension in his body relaxed as Nyx turned his attention back on the MTs, beginning to actually analyze the magic. _Some kind of healing effect,_ he decided. _Scuff marks are obvious, and we’re all wearing armor, wrinkles would only come from taking hits. It’s targeting injuries. Likely limited to proximity as well._

Mouth tugging up in one corner, Nyx flipped one of the knives in his hand, and then flipped it again, shaking out his grip. “Guess this counts as our second wind,” he drawled, unable to stop his mouth tugging up at the other corner as well, feeling the reckless grin Libertus had always groaned about spreading across his face.

“I think I’m gonna’ like you, Ulric,” Gladio declared somewhere to his right.

The MTs had finally figured out where there opponents had gone, targeting systems finding them where they stood in the middle of the road. “Shall we,” Nyx drawled.

There was a whoop on his left as Prompto moved forward, and in a flash of blue the piece of machinery they had found the day before outside the tunnels appeared in his hands. “Let’s knock ‘em dead!”

It seemed Prompto couldn’t wait after his declaration, because he was already racing forward. The rest of them followed, Gladio’s long legs soon catching and surpassing the blond as he shouted cheerfully, “Hey! Don’t you leave us behind, blondie!”

It was like the beginning of their battle all over again, Gladio’s broadsword throwing the MTs off their feet while the rest of them came in behind him. Also like before, they managed to mop up the group quite quickly. This time it was Ignis who called out a warning for the next wave of MTs.

There were no cries from being caught under a falling MT this time, all of them well aware by now of the danger. Prompto was managing to keep the area around him rather clear with the concussive blasts coming from his weapon, while Gladio had the sweeping swings of his broadsword.

At some point Ignis’ polearm had vanished and he now wielded a pair of knives. Nyx instantly felt his opinion of the man rise when he saw them, even if he wasn’t quite as skilled with them as Nyx was. In the moment Nyx was watching, Ignis dodged out of the way of one of the troopers into Gladio’s open space, bumping into the man’s hip. Nyx winced with them; if Gladio wasn’t so big that could have knocked one or both of them over.

He had to turn back to his own fight before he could see them recover, but Nyx faintly heard Ignis’ voice calling out, “Apologies.”

Monica, when Nyx glimpsed her through the battle, was fighting in closer quarters. She made quick, efficient movements as she controlled her space and knocked back the MTs that came at her one after another. The arm not wielding a sword wasn’t quiescent either, throwing elbows at or catching blows from whatever MTs weren’t occupied with her sword.

As the number of enemies dropped lower and lower, Nyx kept expecting to hear another alert, another call of “Incoming!”, but nothing came. He darted glances up at the walls whenever he had some breathing room, but no new MTs were visible.

It appeared they might have finally exhausted the supply of MTs at the blockade gates. It was possible there were more behind the walls, but they could take a while to deploy. After the last MT on the road was put down, they took a moment to shake off whatever hits might have landed and stretch. After a few minutes, when no new MTs had appeared, Ignis turned to Monica.

“I am loath to ask, but,” he hesitated just slightly. “When we set out this morning, we did not think about how we would need the Regalia once we broke the blockade. I’m afraid it’s still back at the Outpost. Would you be willing to help retrieve it for us?”

Monica smiled at Ignis. “Of course, it’s no problem. You have things well in hand here.” So saying, she accepted the keys from Ignis and set off down the road.

Nyx was inspecting one of the edges on his kukri when he saw something happening at the gate from the corner of his eye. He straightened, expecting more resistance, but instead the gates appeared to be unlocking.

Nyx could feel a slightly feral grin stretching his lips as he joined Ignis, Gladio and Prompto in lining up before the gate. If it was Noctis and the Marshal: great. If it was some new weapon… Nyx flipped the kukri in his hand to hide the blade against his wrist.

Turned out it was the Prince and the Marshal.

“Noct!” cried Prompto.

“Marshal,” greeted Ignis seriously as they started striding forward. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Alright on your end?” inquired Noctis.

“Right as rain,” bragged Gladio. “The Niffs couldn’t take their eyes off us.”

“Thanks to you we were spared their attention,” complimented the Marshal. Nyx could practically feel his companions preening at that. He was doing the same, if to a lesser extent. Compliments from the Marshal of the Crownsguard were never simply handed out, they had to be _earned._

Their group headed further into the blocked section of road, ready to clear out whatever Imperial forces remained. Their cheerfully bloodthirsty plans were interrupted by a voice from the sky, made squeaky and annoying by a loudspeaker.

“Stay right where you are!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, fuck this fight scene so much. seriously. This scene all by itself took _months_.
> 
> (So... status monitoring magic... that recedes into the corner of your eye... accompanied by a "sense of identity"... kinda sounds like a health bar with character name...)


	12. So Much to Do

The annoyingly squeaky voice had come from a Niflheim officer. The man had jumped into a MA-X Cuirass after taking issue with the fact “Cor _the Immortal”_ had survived the attack on Insomnia.

Honestly, if it had just been the six of them against the MA-X Cuirass it wouldn’t have been that bad of a fight. But either due to the officer’s presence or by his command, all the remaining MTs in the blockade had attacked at the same time. Trying to deal with Magitek Troopers at the same as time as a Magitek Armor born down on you from above, shooting off missiles every few seconds, was not fun.

Still, they managed. When they finally put the Armor down, Noctis, Cor and Nyx quickly cleared off, anticipating the self-destruct to come. Nyx winced when their companions got caught in the edges of the blast. You would think the once in Keycatrich would have been enough for them to learn their lesson, like the Prince obviously had, but apparently not.

They took a minute to do another quick sweep of the area, checking that they had gotten all the MTs, before they met up again on the road. Monica rejoined them at this point, apparently finished with moving the Regalia just outside the gates for Ignis.

“Impressive work,” Cor said. “Seeing you in action puts my mind at ease.” He lifted a hand to wipe over his brow, though what he was wiping away Nyx wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like the man had broken a sweat.

“It’s clear I don’t need to worry anymore. I’ll return to watching the Niffs. ‘Til next time, take care.” Cor’s stoic gaze ran over the group before he turned on his heel to rejoin Monica, but he paused at Noctis’ call.

“Cor! Wait a moment.” The Marshal turned to look at the Prince, one eyebrow cocked. “You mentioned you don’t know where all the tombs are.” Noctis uncrossed his arms to prop one on his hip. “I’ve been thinking about it, trying to remember if dad ever mentioned them.”

“And have you remembered anything?”

Noctis held his arms out, as if proffering something. “I’m not entirely sure, but—” his arms dropped to his sides. “He made a throwaway comment, once, about a trip he took.” Noctis’ next words were spoken slowly, carefully. “He said the Vesperpool was one of the highlights of the trip, because he killed _three_ birds with one stone, and one of them was fishing.”

Gladio’s snort took Nyx by surprise. “Of course,” he chuckled. “I’ll bet the only reason you remember any of that at all is because it had to do with fishing.”

The glower Noctis threw at Gladio was truly glorious, but he continued speaking to Cor.

“I can’t be entirely certain, but given how few his trips outside the City were, ones where he would have been free enough to go fishing—Well, I thought it worth mentioning. If I’m remembering right, the Vesperpool might very well hold two Royal Tombs.”

The Marshal gazed contemplatively at the Prince for a minute. Nyx noted how Noctis shifted his weight uncomfortably, but otherwise stood firm under the Marshal’s gaze.

Finally, Cor gave a slight nod. “If Regis said that, your interpretation is highly likely to be correct. I’ve heard that the Niffs blocked off access to the Vesperpool a while ago. I can place some calls and look into it.” One of the Marshal’s hands came up to rub the bridge of his nose, before he dropped it again. “I’ll contact you when I have more information.”

Some of the tension went out of Noctis’ stance. “Thanks,” he said.

The Marshal nodded to them all. “Take care,” he repeated, and left with Monica.

Out of the corner of Nyx’s eye, he noticed some silent communication occurring between Ignis and Gladio. After a long moment of this, Gladio nodded companionably to Ignis, who set off down the road back the way they had come. _Getting the car,_ Nyx realized.

Nyx glanced at Noctis again and found him staring hard at the ground. One of his hands was tapping on his thigh, one finger at a time. It looked curiously like an unconscious counting movement. When Noctis turned to look towards Duscae, Nyx noticed how his shoulders seemed to drag.

Eventually, Noctis began a slow, resigned sort of pace towards Duscae. Nyx frowned at the Prince’s posture. It looked tired, but he couldn’t put a finger on where that impression was coming from.

Gladio had been dragged into a conversation with Prompto and was patting him companionably on the shoulder, but Nyx could see the way his eyes followed his Prince. When he caught Nyx looking, he jerked his head, silently telling Nyx not to wait for them.

With a tiny nod in reply, Nyx took a few quick steps to catch up with Noctis before matching his slow pace down the road. The Prince glanced at him, checking who it was, but his eyes were distant and smile distracted. His gaze quickly shifted away again, back to the open sky above the far gates.

Nyx was tempted to try and strike up some kind of conversation, but Noctis seemed to be deep in thought about something. Nyx found himself loath to disturb him. Besides, walking together like this, without any rush, was plenty companionable in itself.

It wasn’t more than a minute or two before Gladio and Prompto were catching up with them, accompanied by the quiet rumble of a car engine. “Ain’t so bad out here, once you get used to it,” Gladio rumbled.

Prompto was thoughtful. “Still a lot we haven’t seen, though.”

Ignis, who was pulling up alongside them in the Regalia, responded, “And a lot for us to do.”

Prompto sighed at that, and his “Yeah,” was short and to the point.

Gladio smirked softly at the group of them. “Buck up, we’re just getting started.”

~*~

They stopped at the first gas station in Duscae. Nyx was grateful for the chance to stretch his legs. Climbing into the full backseat of a car immediately after a fierce battle was not his favorite thing to do.

(Also, the line of warmth down his leg where it had been pressed against Noctis’ had been a little much after the way he had woken up that morning. Nyx had nearly blushed, and had needed to stare out the window while reminding himself, _it’s not going to happen again._ )

Ignis was frowning over the gas prices, and Prompto was inviting them to check out the store, when a ringing filled the air. Nyx glanced around in time to see Noctis pull his phone out of his pocket with a sigh.

“Hello… Hey Iris… We’ll do that.” With that blindingly informative short conversation, Noctis slid his phone away again.

“Was that Iris? Can’t even call her own brother,” Gladio complained.

“In all fairness, yours wasn’t the obituary broadcast all over Lucis,” rejoined Ignis.

“What about me? She say anything about me,” asked Prompto with a mischievous elbow in Gladio’s gut.

Nyx had taken a moment to make connections in his head, but now he snorted. “Iris? Gladiolus? Someone had _ideas_ when they named the two of you, didn’t they?”

Prompto tried to cover up a snort and Ignis paused in refueling the car to adjust his glasses. A gentle smile tugged at Noctis’ lips as he glanced over his shoulder at Gladio.

“Oi,” Gladio said with a mock frown, “that’s my mother you’re talking about.” He advanced a step on Nyx, expression attempting to look threatening.

“Come on, big guy,” Prompto said, darting in to pull Gladio away towards the store.

With a smile of his own, Nyx leaned back against the car and closed his eyes to enjoy the warm breeze. After a few minutes, Ignis finished gassing the car and put the pump back on its stand. Rather than following the others into the store though, he came to stand by him and coughed lightly for his attention.

Nyx opened his eyes and turned to give him an attentive look.

Ignis hesitated a moment before speaking. “One of the things the Empire did immediately after the Fall, was to declare that the King, Princess Lunafreya, and Noctis had died. It works to our advantage to perpetuate that lie as long as possible.

“In Leide, we were among Hunters and Crownsguard, all of whom have a deep-seated mistrust of Imperials and would make it a point not to gossip around or speculate near them. From this point on however…” Ignis trailed off, but Nyx could see the direction he was going and hummed thoughtfully.

“But now we’re in Duscae, and vaguely planning on heading to the biggest city around. Which would be why the Prince has made a point of avoiding his more formal clothes.”

Ignis nodded in agreement. “We also have more casual clothes, and I really will insist we change into them if we get any closer to civilization. Crownsguard fatigues are sturdier and have magical protections woven into them, but anonymity will protect us more at this point than armor.” Ignis paused, and Nyx sighed, able to guess why he had brought this up.

“And then there’s me,” he stated blandly. “With a ruined Kingsglaive uniform.”

“Yes. Unfortunately.” Both of them were silent for a moment. “It’s a wonderful resource for combat, but is designed to be memorable. Combined with the obvious damage and your scars, it will attract a great amount of attention and questions.”

At the mention of his scars, Nyx felt his brows lower and his left hand tighten without conscious thought. He dropped his chin to his chest and stared down at the white scars crisscrossing his knuckles, the color subtly changing as the pressure built in his hand. With a grimace, he forced his hand to slacken and determinedly ignored its ache as he looked up again.

“I can take the jacket off, easy,” he offered, before giving a shrug. “But my shirt is also ruined. And I don’t exactly have anything else available.”

He could see Ignis think it over for a minute before sighing. “A ruined shirt might attract some attention, but it can be chalked up to many things. A lone Kingsglaive in a larger group, though, will invite questions and scrutiny we want to avoid as long as possible. We can buy something else when we get to a town.”

Nyx himself agreed with the statement, so he reached up and began undoing the many buttons on his jacket. It took a minute, but he was soon sliding the fabric down his arms and carefully folding it up. Hearing a small snort from beside him, Nyx glanced up at Ignis before following his gaze across the pavement to where Noctis stood in the doorway of the service station, staring at them.

Nyx studied Noctis’ form. The Prince was standing tall, and—he squinted—slightly unbalanced? And he was blocking the doorway. Another few moments of staring still couldn’t enlighten him to what Ignis had found funny. Nyx shrugged to himself before he pushed away from his perch leaning against the car and headed for the trunk to stow his jacket out of sight.

When he was done, Nyx glanced back idly at Noctis to see that Gladio had thrown an arm around Noctis’ shoulders in the doorway and was now dragging him somewhere. Nyx watched for a moment, noticing that Ignis and Prompto were following in Gladio’s wake. He shrugged to himself and headed towards them, curious.

Nyx caught up just in time to hear Gladio saying, “—able about wildlife, could teach us a thing or two. Go on and introduce yourself.”

Noctis chuckled softly as he ducked out from under Gladio’s arm. “I get it, I get it. You want me to meet people. She’s even pre-vetted. You don’t have to _literally_ drag me into it.”

Noctis darted away before Gladio could get in a retaliatory swipe.

Standing next to Gladio, Nyx couldn’t quite make out whatever the woman said as she turned around, but her, “Oh, it’s you boys. Wait, who’re you again? And what do you need now?” was perfectly clear.

“Ah, my friend talked to you earlier and wanted me to talk to you. But you said you were busy?” Nyx noted the way Noctis had tilted his head and wondered what his expression was like.

“Quite busy. Too busy to go around talking to every random stranger in Duscae,” the woman replied with a frown.

“That’s too bad. My friend thinks I’m horribly rude and need to talk to interesting people more often.”

She tapped a finger on her chin before brightening. “Oh, I have just the perfect solution! Why don’t you boys help me out? I was just thinking I could use a few extra hands—for catching frogs, to be precise.”

“Sounds interesting, did you have a particular frog in mind?”

“Indeed I do! Only the red frog native to Alstor suits my needs. You’ll need to get knee and elbow deep down at the Slough to find them. Perhaps by the time you get back your friend will have stopped bugging you to bug me.” The woman swung an evaluating gaze up and down the Prince’s body, and then quickly at their group.

“You’re combat-trained, I’d wager. I can tell by your efficient musculature. Remember, it’s red frogs. And make sure they’re fresh!” With a last demanding wave of a hand in Noctis’ face, she turned back to the set-up she had on the picnic table.

Nyx couldn’t help his own chuckle as Noctis walked back to them, Prompto quickly falling in step with him. “That was… overwhelming,” he commented, usually smiling face pulling a befuddled expression.

“Well, Gladio,” Noctis asked, spreading his hands with a little grin, “I talked to her.”

“Is it a _wise_ idea to be running errands, given the Empire’s interest in us?” wondered Ignis.

Nyx shifted his elbow to bump Gladio’s teasingly. “I think the question is, how did you talk to her before without being roped into being her gopher.”

“Ladies love to talk to me,” Gladio proclaimed, and pointedly ignored the exaggerated expressions of disbelief on his friends’ faces.

Another chuckle ran through the group as they headed away from the picnic tables and back towards the buildings. Suddenly Prompto lit up and turned to Noctis, eyes wide and shoulders trembling.

“Buddy. Buddy! …BUDDY!” he said, getting more and more excited. “You saw the sign, right? Chocobos! …CHOCOBOS! If we’re doing a favor for Gladio’s friend down in the Slough, surely it isn’t out of the way to visit the Chocobo Forest!!”

“I thought we were heading for Lestallum,” Gladio complained.

“That was before you pressed me to talk to a very busy lady who apparently likes to rope people into helping her.”

“They have a point,” Nyx chipped in, smile playing across his lips.

Ignis adjusted his glasses. “Iris is in no danger. If we put off traveling to Lestallum for a day or two, there will be no harm in it.”

“Think you’re overruled, Gladio. We’re going to the Chocobo Post.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonder what Noct was counting
> 
> Wonder why Ignis laughed at Noct standing in the doorway... stopped short... like he had stumbled... staring at them...


	13. Diversions

They had popped into the restaurant before they left, talking to the local tipster to get an idea of the lay of the land. Noctis had also chosen to grab a hunt in the same area as where they would be searching for frogs. He had pointed out that the beasts would be a nuisance anyways and they might as well get paid for dealing with them.

The drive to the Chocobo Post was only about half an hour, and soon enough they were pulling into the parking lot.

Prompto was the first out of the car, bouncing and looking around every-which-way in excitement as he exclaimed, “Now _this_ is what I’m talking about.”

He barely managed to hold himself back until the rest of them had gotten out before he was bouncing away, towards the irresistible draw of chocobos. The rest of them followed behind, fighting smiles. “The kid’s got it bad,” commented Gladio.

“There are worse vices, I suppose,” Ignis observed, voice fond.

Prompto made a beeline towards the first person they saw that looked like they worked there, bouncing up and saying, “’Scuse me.” The man turned, and Prompto continued, “We’d like to ride the chocobos.”

“The chocobos, huh?” The man gave a little nod of his head. “I hate to break this to y’all, but we can’t permit our birds to leave the post.” The man’s voice fell in genuine sounding regret as he spoke. “Not while Deadeye’s still about. He’s an un _common_ ly ferocious behemoth that’s taken to prowlin’ these parts of late.” The man shook his head, gaze dropping as he explained the dilemma to a wilting Prompto.

“His scent makes our birds nervous, an’ to prevent accidents an’ tragedies, we have no choice but to suspend rentals.” The man heaved a sigh, before pausing, something seeming to catch his eye. He looked over the group again evaluatingly, saying, “Hold on, now—ain’t you lads the hunters that’ve been makin’ a mark around Leide?

“You reckon you could handle the likes of Deadeye? It’s an official hunt, o’ course, so there’d be a reward in it for ya.”

Prompto was already turning puppy dog eyes on Noct, begging to help the chocobos. Noct took one glance at him and then turned back to Wiz, smile playing on his lips and shaking his head fondly.

Wiz quickly sorted out the wanted posters for the hunts and pulled out the Deadeye one for them. Noct also pulled out their map and spent a few minutes asking Wiz to point out what he knew about the area before they were done.

With everything ready, the group set out around the back of the Chocobo Post, finding a small cliff that offered a good view of the area. Looking over the edge, they spotted a path leading down from their left and around the cliff, towards the area their target was supposed to roam.

“That looks like the way to go,” commented Ignis.

In agreement, the group began heading left, but Nyx noted the way Noctis seemed to be lagging a bit behind the group. He dropped back to walk beside him. “Everything good?”

Noctis was silent for a long moment, and Nyx tried to follow his gaze, curious. His eyes landed on Gladio, and when he looked back at Noctis there was the suggestion of a frown tugging his lips downward. A moment later Noctis looked up at him, and Nyx found himself following a lock of hair that fell between Noctis’ eyes to brush his cheek before looking back up into those blue, blue eyes. “Just… thinking,” he said with a real frown now.

“About?”

Noctis’ eyes turned to look out at the view over the Slough. “Thinking that we’re going to have a lot of shit to deal with for a while… Thinking that we’re going to keep running into stronger and stronger enemies, especially once the Empire realizes I’m still alive…”

He was quiet for a minute as they began descending the slope. “Thinking that we’ll need some more firepower…” Noctis looked back at Nyx with a sigh, “Thinking that I should get around to extending the King’s Magic to you again.”

Nyx’s feet stumbled to a stop, and Noctis slowed beside him before stopping as well. For a minute, he just stood there, blinded by the words echoing in his memory.

_“Whatever strength you have is on loan from the king. You are nothing without him.”_

_“What of your King’s power now? It’s a burden you cannot hope to bear.”_

_“What good will you be without the king’s magic?”_

Nyx came back to himself at a careful touch to his bare arm. He pulled a stuttering breath into his aching lungs, and then grit his teeth in fury at his thoughts. _That is_ not _what he is saying,_ he told himself fiercely.

His next breath came easier. It was a perfectly sound idea. They needed more firepower, and when you looked around, he was the most efficient solution. He had been fighting the Empire for years and had plenty of experience with whatever they might throw at them. He was also currently operating at barely half of his previous capacity, through no fault of his own.

Another breath, and Nyx managed to meet Noctis’ concerned eyes with a semblance of calm.

Noctis held the ability to restore his capacity to its previous levels and allow him to fully utilize the skills he had spent years training, and _that’s_ what he was proposing. He couldn’t know that he was echoing every horrible and degrading voice the Kingsglaive had ever heard. He couldn’t know that—

Nyx choked for a moment, certain things crystalizing that he had understood instinctually since the night of the fall, since the Captain had been revealed as Glauca, but that he hadn’t put words to before.

—that Glauca had slowly and insidiously been dripping poison into them, trying to break any pride they might have taken in serving the King, in being entrusted with his magic. That Glauca had been instilling a certain disdain and distaste of utilizing the King’s magic.

Nyx had to pass a hand over his face, throat tight, as he finally saw the festering wound that had been lingering in the Kingsglaive for years. He struggled to think back, but it was a thing so commonplace that he couldn’t really tell when it had started. It was just a thing the Captain did. Big heads got people killed, so he kept them grounded by reminding them they weren’t invincible. _Except that wasn’t really why he had been doing it._

The hand on his elbow flexed, reminding him of his audience. After a moment, he managed to lower his hand and meet the concerned gaze of his Prince. His throat was still tight, and he couldn’t manage to force any words past it.

“Nyx, man, you okay?”

The sudden, concerned interjection startled him enough to glance over and see Prompto, shifting restlessly on his feet, gaze steady on him and Noctis. His eyes slid past him to take in Gladio standing planted in the middle of the path, head on a swivel as he kept a lookout for any danger that might want to interrupt them even as his body leaned towards them. Ignis was watching them from the furthest edge of the path, another barrier between them and unwanted company.

Nyx realized how he must have looked, expression no doubt twisted in grief, covering his eyes and slumping into the hand on his arm enough that it might look like it was holding him up. He must have looked like he was about to break.

He took a deep breath, and this time it shook because he was overwhelmed by their concern for him. It managed to finally ease his throat enough for him to speak. “Just,” and he had to stop and grope for words, for a way to explain what had shaken him so much. He looked back at Noctis with a strange need to assure him somehow that his momentary breakdown hadn’t had anything to do with what he had said.

“Just realizing something.” He took a breath and brought a hand up to cover the one on his elbow. “I… Glauca spent years, dripping an insidious kind of poison in our ears, pretending it was concern. And finally recognizing it that way was a shock.”

Nyx blew a breath out through his teeth, patting the hand, before straightening and letting it slide away. He threw a smile towards the still concerned faces. “I’m fine, truly.” Nyx could feel his expression hardening as he added, “And I’m not about to allow Glauca the privilege of breaking me.”

Finally, he met Noctis’ gaze again. “I would be happy to accept your magic, if that is what you want to do.”

It took a good bit more than just those words, but eventually they were ready.

At first, they meant to perform the ceremony right where they stood. The Behemoth causing trouble and the chocobos being unavailable meant that there weren’t really any tourists hanging around the Chocobo Post. Some digging around in the Arsenal— which apparently held much more than just weapons, who knew— had turned up a serviceable ceremonial goblet. Actually filling the goblet had been what changed their plans.

Nyx had never known exactly what it was they had been given to drink in the formal ceremony in the Citadel. The way Noctis and Ignis had gone back and forth over it had informed him it was more complicated than he had thought. The two had pulled out and examined every single liquid the group had, and several hidden in the Arsenal, eventually rejecting all of them.

Nyx had happily left them to it, not particularly interested in trying to understand their conversation, given the number of technical terms they had been throwing around. Finally, Ignis had waved a hand in the Prince’s direction, conceding something to him. Noctis had turned to them with a wrinkle in his nose and a frown on his face and told them they needed to go to a Haven.

Wiz had kindly pointed out all the nearby Havens on their map, so they continued north into the Slough to what Wiz had named Ausace Haven.

~*~

With the liquid taken care of, Noctis turned and began waving his retainers into position. The goblet was handed off to Prompto, who stood slightly nervously beside Noctis. Ignis had retrieved a potion and was standing to the side, out of the way of the ceremony about to take place. And Gladio had taken up the traditional position of a Shield, two paces behind and to the side of his charge.

Noctis turned to him now, expression steady. A gust of wind made the hair brushing his chin sway for a moment before it stilled again. “Ready?”

Nyx took a breath, memories from the ceremony with King Regis shifting in his head. “Your Majesty,” he said, inclining his head and raising a fist to thump down over his heart.

Noctis waited until he raised his head to meet his eyes again, before waving a single hand at Prompto. “Drink of this, that the Crystal might take your measure and the Six might know my will.”

On cue, Prompto stepped forward and offered him the goblet. Nyx accepted it carefully and drank deeply of it. When he handed it back, he had drained half the liquid in it, and he accepted the small knife from Prompto in turn.

“I ask now for your blood, that my magic might know you.”

Slightly awkwardly, Nyx used the knife to prick a finger on his right hand. The last time, it had been his left, but with the scarring he was leery of how deeply he might have to cut to draw blood. When the blood welled up on his finger, he held it out over the goblet and let three drops of blood fall into the liquid. The color curled lazily through the water for long moments, before a sudden current seemed to sweep through it and the red vanished.

Prompto retreated to Noctis’ side and offered the goblet. Noctis a short sip of the liquid before holding the goblet out in front of him. “Ancestors, know this man who comes willingly before us,” he spoke, tipping the vessel. The liquid fell in a shining stream that vanished before it hit the ground.

Now it was the Shield’s turn to speak. “Petitioner, you ask for the Magic of the King. Speak your oaths that you may be worthy of it.”

Nyx felt his breath shake slightly as he inhaled. He took a single step forward, and knelt, fist pressed to his heart again. “My King, I pledge to you my service.

“I swear myself to the Line of Kings. I swear to them my service as they hold the line against the darkness until the coming of the King of Kings.

“I swear to use my magic in the defense of Lucis and against the coming Darkness. My King, I swear this magic you gift me now will be used with all due responsibility and will not be turned against innocents.

“All this, I swear with no reservations before the light of the Crystal and the eyes of the Six.”

As he spoke the traditional oath of the Kingsglaive, written some centuries before by an unknown monarch, Nyx noted with concern the pain that seemed to steal across Noctis’ features. It was only the subtlest of twitches at certain parts, but it very definitely seemed like a reaction to certain phrases in the oath. Unfortunately, Nyx couldn’t afford to think about it at the moment, given the ceremony taking place, but he carefully noted and filed away the expressions and when they had occurred.

The words of the oath settled into the air. A tension built as they hung, waiting, until finally Noctis stepped forward to stand in front of him. Only slightly self-conscious, he raised his left hand for his King’s perusal.

Noctis turned Nyx’s hand so it was palm up and ran his own palm down towards his elbow. A subtle pulse of magic built between the two points of contact—his forearm and his hand. The first time he had gone through the ceremony it had been like a zing, a spark. Now, he felt it as a pure, unattuned stream of magic.

With King Regis, his body had been so on-edge he hadn’t been able to hear a word the King had spoken. This time he paid close attention.

“With this I do extend to you my magic. I take you into my care, such that you might meet enemies with the edge of the Draconian’s power, and friends with the Draconian’s light. May the Crystal bless you and accept these oaths between us as our covenant.”

The magic retreated from his arm, and Noctis drew his fingers up to Nyx’s palm again. His fingers invoked wildly uneven sensations, one moment near nothing and the next making him want to shiver all the way down into his toes. Noctis managed to make the motion entirely controlled, dipping up and down over his scars but drawing a perfectly straight line over the now invisible tendons in his arm.

Finally, Noctis stopped at the very edge of his palm, one finger resting in the tiny natural dip between the muscles of his palm. Nyx forced himself to breath, trying to relax for what came next—

The magic _pierces_ into him, and his breath strangles in his throat. The magic rushes into his veins like light floods a room, so strong that it blots out all other sensations in its wake. He can’t move, because in the wake of the magic his muscles disappear.

His eyes fix on Noctis fingers against his skin as the magic rushes up his arm and into his chest. For just a moment Nyx feels afraid as he remembers the white-hot kernel of fire trapped behind his sternum, warded behind a wall of white. He tries to brace himself as the flood of magic sweeps down toward that kernel—

And washes past it without any reaction. Noctis moves his hand down to encircle his wrist, the tip of his finger turning into his entire palm, the magic flowing into him even faster. Nyx remembers how this moment felt with King Regis, the intrusion gentling into mere pressure, but he can’t feel anything now. His physical senses are being blotted out by the light, and his magic sense is flooded beyond his ability to process.

It doesn’t take long for the magic to reach every corner of his body, until Nyx is floating in a sea of light, even his sight overwhelmed. The only thing he can feel at this point is the gentle warmth of the magic, glowing ever brighter, and the tiny point of fire still trapped in his chest.

There is a sudden tug, and Nyx’s spirit slumps sideways. There’s a tingle, like he’s supposed to be feeling something, but all that exists for him in this moment is the light.

Eventually, he notices new sensations creeping in.

The light begins to flow inwards, retreating from his limbs as it goes. Slowly, slowly, it seeps into his chest, pooling there. Soon, the light had retreated to a small channel that stretches from his throat — _that had spoken oaths to his King_ — to his heart — _where he had placed his fist as he pledged_ — to his stomach — _which held the liquid from the ceremonial goblet he had drank from._

With a vague memory of how his body worked, Nyx rolled his head back until he could meet Noctis’ burning eyes. They helped anchor him to what was going on, pulling him out of the magic. Slowly, Nyx’s brain processed the signals from his body. He was slumped into his arm, which was being held above his head by the hand on his wrist. Another hand was pressing into his elbow, locking it straight and helping support it.

Something was going to happen, right? Something…

Nyx’s eyes caught on the movement of Noctis’ hand. It was throwing off little fits and fizzles of electricity as he raised it to grip his own hand, still caught in Noctis’ grasp. Nyx gasped, trying to wrench away as the lightning shot through his body. A moment later, the light in his chest leapt forward, twisting into a matching current and racing to meet the intrusion.

The two spells met in their clasped hands and created a halo of electricity around them. The light gleamed strangely on the dark trails of liquid seeping passed the grip still tight on Nyx’s wrist. Before his thoughts could steady, Noctis let the lightning go, and the light in Nyx’s chest followed suit. It dropped back into the well-worn channel in his chest, lapping at its edges before settling and curling around the still-burning kernel in his sternum like a cat.

In his moment of distraction Noctis had moved away, and Nyx only focused when an unfamiliar, cloth-covered grip covered his hand. The fingers around his wrist loosened, and blood began to drip freely down his arm. Noctis made a noise, something low in his throat but high in pitch, and then hurriedly moved back.

The moment his wrist was clear, Ignis was pouring the potion he had readied over it. Once he was sure the potion had worked Ignis stepped back, releasing his hand. Nyx gathered it back to his chest, trying to gather his scattered thoughts along with it.

When he looked at the King again, he found Noctis focused intently on wiping his hand off, trying to scrub away the blood. It was several long moments before Noctis stopped his scrubbing. Slowly, his hand fisted up, and Nyx noticed with concern the whiteness in his knuckles.

Gladio dropped a hand onto Noctis’ shoulder, and when Noctis turn away to glance at him, held a hand out for the bloodied rag. Something seemed to pass between them from the way Gladio’s face softened before he reached forward and gently pried the cloth out of Noctis’ hand. With another pat and a little push to the shoulder, Gladio moved back again.

“You are now bound to my magic, and through me, to the magic of the Crystal,” Noctis began after a moment, dredging up the words to end the ceremony. “Rise and be welcome,” Noctis said, extending a hand to him as his eyes seemed to glow from within, “Glaive Ulric.”

As Nyx grasped that hand, he felt a warmth that had nothing to do with magic suffuse him. He found himself, like the King, diverting from the overly prescribed words. “It is an honor to serve at your side.”


	14. Camping

By the time they had finished the impromptu ceremony, the sun had begun setting. As they were already standing on a Haven, it was decided that they would make camp for the night and go looking for the Behemoth the next day.

Gladio went to begin setting up the tent, and Ignis began setting up a table filled with cooking utensils. Nyx watched, slightly bemused at their efficiency, and shifted out of the way of the activity. Prompto was bustling around the fire pit, arranging chairs, only to stop suddenly with a noise of dismay.

“Prompto?” Ignis asked, looking up from laying out several knives.

“Oh, uhhh, just realized we haven’t camped since we found Nyx. Or shopped. And we only have four camp chairs.”

“Oh, that’s fine. I honestly don’t think I’ve used one before,” Nyx tried to reassure him.

“Never?” Prompto asked, sounding fascinated.

“Surely when the Kingsglaive was deployed,” probed Ignis.

Nyx could feel a smile tugging at his lips. “The Kingsglaive was never connected to the Arsenal, remember? We camped plenty on deployment, but you don’t want to weigh yourself down with too much equipment. Things like tables and chairs were the sole domain of Tactical, and everyone hated carting the things around enough to never want one for themselves.

“Besides,” he shrugged, “on deployment you were only ever one of three things: on duty; eating; or asleep. What’s the point in extra weight you’ll never use anyways?”

Nyx could see both Prompto’s and Ignis’ brains whirring, turning over what he had said. It was all true, if slightly exaggerated and simplified. It didn’t even hint at the questions creeping around the edges of Nyx’s mind, wondering if this wasn’t another manipulation by Glauca, making them actively distasteful of such minor things.

“Nevertheless,” Ignis said, turning back to his things with a frown, “we shall be purchasing another chair when we have the chance.”

“Yeah,” Prompto chimed in, “we’ve been spending lots of evenings talking around the campfire. You’re going to have to add another activity to your list: it’s called, ‘Hanging Out’. We might be setting up camp, but we’ve got a couple hours before we’ll really feel like sleeping yet.”

“Nyx, what kind of things do you like to eat? I’m just about to start preparing dinner.”

Distracted by the question, Nyx turned towards Ignis with a smirk. “I’m Galahdian, I grew up on spicy food. The spicier the better, in my opinion.”

Prompto practically _lit up_ , spinning around to face him. “I _love_ spicy food!” he rushed out, before turning to Ignis and clutching his arm with wide eyes and a fast spreading pout. “Please, please, pleasssssse, can we have green curry tonight?”

“ _Promp_ to,” Ignis sighed at him.

Nyx felt his smirk gentling into a true smile at the two. “I doubt you have any idea of what true Galahdian spice is like, but green curry sounds great to me.”

“Green curry for dinner it is,” Ignis muttered as he shook Prompto off, but Nyx caught the smile on his lips.

“Noct,” Ignis spoke without looking up, cutting through Prompto’s cheers. “Perhaps you should take Nyx and the two of you could go wash up. I would hate to think of a little blood ruining our dinner.”

Nyx had nearly forgotten about the Prince, and looking around, found him near the edge of the Haven. Noctis was absently gripping his wrist and staring at the oncoming sunset. There was a moment of silence, before Ignis said, “Noct,” again, a little firmer.

Noctis startled, dropping his wrist. “What,” he asked, flipping around and blinking at them. “Oh, right… Good idea, Specs.” He waved a hand at Nyx in a beckoning manner. “Come on, there’s a lake right over there.”

The trip to the lake was silent. Nyx knelt just at the edge of the water to scrub the blood off his wrist, examining the scars up his arm as he did so. The first time he had received the King’s Magic, it had left a fine scar that faded to near nothing over the course of some months. Nyx had still been able to locate it, but the one time he had asked someone else they hadn’t been able to spot it.

Now, with the randomly branching scars from the Lucii’s magic, it had vanished completely. There wasn’t even a visible scar from the ceremony they had just finished. Lowering his arm into the water again, Nyx wasn’t entirely sure what he felt about that.

Done with the washing, Nyx rocked onto his toes in preparation to stand up; a glance to the side made him falter. Noctis was still kneeling in the gravel, water lapping at his knees as he scrubbed at his own hand.

Nyx felt his lips part in surprise, but couldn’t look away. A moment of trying to catch his mental balance, and he noticed the blank expression on Noctis’ face; the staring, unmoving gaze; the single-minded, repetitive nature of his scrubbing.

The picture cleared for him suddenly and Nyx rocked back, unsure. This was a moment where Noctis was decidedly _not there_ , trapped somewhere in his head… and it had probably been brought on by the ceremony earlier.

Figuring out the problem was easy; the signs were all there for him to interpret. Nyx himself could remember the first times he had killed Imperials, the horrible sensation of blood on his hands _._ The terrifying feeling of _it won’t come off_.

But this… this was subtly different. There had been no death, no one had died, there hadn’t even really been any _violence_. And, no one had been concerned, had they? His retainers had sent Noctis off with just Nyx for company. Which meant either they were sure Noctis would be fine, or… or they didn’t know that Noctis would react this way.

With a lump in his throat he couldn’t explain, Nyx finally rose to his feet. He pulled out the towel Ignis had sent them off with and approached Noctis slowly, doing his best to avoid sneaking up on him. Carefully, trying to remain in his peripheral vision, Nyx reached out and set a hand on his shoulder.

Noctis stilled.

Swallowing against the tightness in his throat, Nyx dangled the towel in front of him. “You ready to head back?”

When no response came, not even a twitch, Nyx felt something in the pit of his stomach twist. He slid his hand down Noctis’ arm, and gently tugged him upwards. There was a moment where it felt like he was pulling a dead weight, but then Noctis gave in to it, letting himself be guided upwards.

Nyx didn’t let go of the arm but pulled it towards him. Carefully, he began to dry it, giving individual attention to each finger. Noctis twitched, turning slightly to face him, but Nyx didn’t hear an actual protest. If there was one on his face, well, all his attention was needed on his hands at the moment.

When he had finished drying the hand, Nyx hesitated over it, debating what to do. Noctis almost solved the question for him when he stopped holding it up, the arm almost slipping through his fingers before he tightened his grip on it. After a moment he did let if fall, but only to tuck it into his elbow. Then he reached for the other hand and began to gently dry that one as well.

Eventually, his fingers stuttered to a stop and he couldn’t put it off any longer. Hoping against hope that the horrible blankness would have retreated, Nyx slowly looked up into Noctis’ face.

There was definitely an expression there.

Nyx felt his breath leave him in a rush. The knot in his throat came loose to the chorus of the tension in his shoulders and back relaxing. Not thinking, Nyx found himself whispering, “There you are.”

Blue eyes flickered up to meet his, and one corner of Noct’s mouth pulled upwards even as his eyes remained dull. “Sorry.”

Noct’s voice was quiet and a little sad. Nyx’s fingers tightened on the hand he was still holding, his worry doubling. He so _desperately_ wanted to soothe that sadness away, to coax the words out of Noct that would bleed away some of his pain. But it was just as obvious that Noct didn’t want to talk about it at all, didn’t want to even acknowledge it.

“It’s fine,” Nyx said, looking back down. He pretended to wipe more water off perfectly dry fingers before letting go and stepping back. “They’re probably waiting for us back at camp.”

Noct wavered for a moment before turning to head back, and Nyx let himself fall into step beside him. Halfway back, keeping his eyes fixed on the thin trail of smoke from the Haven, Nyx finally found the words he wanted.

“It happens to us all,” he said quietly. “Every warrior, in every walk of life, has moments of doubt, and times when it hurts. They might pretend otherwise but it’s true.” Nyx took a steadying breath. “Trauma is. Pretending otherwise is just an invitation for it to happen again.”

Nyx let his words sink into the space between the two of them, not looking to see if they had gotten a reaction. He had said his piece, and it was enough.

A couple of steps later, Noct bumped into his side. It was just a light tap, but Nyx could feel the acknowledgement in the fact it had happened at all.

When they finally mounted the rock of the Haven, they were greeted by Gladio. Nyx could see him examining Noct from head to toe, and the tension that eased out of him afterwards. Of course; Gladio was the Shield, it had probably made him uncomfortable to emerge from the tent and find Noctis missing.

“I see you made it back in one piece. Didn’t have any troubles?”

“Not a peep. Animals were probably bedding down for the night, and it was still too early for daemons,” Noct replied quietly. He headed for a chair and collapsed into it with a little hiss, rubbing at his back.

With a quick glance around, Nyx began heading for a clear spot by the fire. He was waylaid by Prompto before he could go more than two steps.

“No. No no no no no,” Prompto was saying, and actually grabbed his shoulders as he steered him towards one of the chairs.

“Prompto,” Nyx tried to protest, but a sudden hard shove from the blond unbalanced him. Nyx tipped, and found himself sprawled with a thump into the camp chair.

“Dude,” Prompto said seriously, glaring lightly behind a wagging finger. “You are _not_ sitting on the ground. You just received the _King’s Magic_ for the sake of all the Six!” Prompto was slowly retreating as he lectured, and sat in his own chair without looking.

Nyx sat awkwardly under the pointed look Prompto kept fixed on him, not even daring to try and find a more comfortable position. Before the silence and muffled grins from Gladio and Noctis could grow awkward, Ignis announced, “Dinner’s ready.”

Jumping at the excuse, Nyx stood quickly and darted over to the work table where Ignis had dished things up. Grabbing a plate and cutlery, Nyx pointedly took a seat on the icebox on the opposite side of the fire from Prompto.

Gladio snorted as he accepted his own plate from Ignis. As Prompto spluttered, he spoke over him, “Looks like you got outfoxed there, Prompto.”

Prompto _pouted_ , but was quickly distracted by the dinner Ignis placed in his hands. Ignis retrieved the last two dishes, for Noct and himself, and took the chair Nyx had so eagerly abandoned. “Well, let’s dig in.”

Nyx kept an eye on Prompto, wondering if he had to worry about an act of revenge, but the blond was diving into his food with relish. Satisfied, Nyx glanced down at his own dish. Prompto had practically gone into raptures when Ignis agreed to make it, and Nyx was curious both as to how it would be, and how it would rank compared to true Galahdian spice.

Turned out, pretty well, on both accounts. Oh, it wasn’t _actually_ spicy, but it had a pleasant warmth and a richly complex flavor. Ignis obviously hadn’t been trying for a true burn, but he had a very good grasp on how to use and balance various spices.

Almost before he realized it, Nyx was scraping the bottom of the bowl. The entire group had been silent as they worked their way through dinner.  Wondering what they usually did for dishes, Nyx glanced over at Ignis. The man just waved at his work table with one lazy hand.

Nyx got up to deposit his dish, and then wandered back to the icebox. Opening it to investigate, he found a couple sports drinks, some flavored and plain waters, and tightly packed stacks of Ebony. Nyx fished a water out for himself, and then glanced around.

“I’ll take a PowerUp,” Noct said, and Nyx tossed him one.

“Water for Ignis,” Gladio said, interrupting the man as he opened his mouth, “and for me.”

“Strawberry, please,” said Prompto, sinking deeper into his chair.

With drinks passed out Nyx, satisfied, sealed the icebox and perched atop it again, sipping his own water. He was beginning to feel tired, but he pointedly ignored it as conceding Prompto’s earlier argument. After everyone had finished and stacked their dishes to be rinsed in the lake in the morning, and was sitting down again nursing their drinks, Ignis spoke.

“Tomorrow we will see about hunting down Deadeye.”

“And then we’ll finally be able to see the chocobos!” broke in Prompto cheerily.

A smile hovered on Ignis’ lips. “Yes, and then Wiz will be able to let the chocobos out. But do we want to head back to the Chocobo Post after Deadeye, or take advantage of being close to the Slough to find Miss Sania’s frogs?”

“We don’t know yet where Deadeye will be. We might not end up any closer to the Slough than the Post is. Besides, haven’t you noticed all the Chocobo Rental locations,” said Noct. “They’ve all been out-of-order so far. Aren’t they for renting from Wiz? Once we take care of Deadeye, he’ll probably start renting them out again. We could return to the Post and then head into the Slough on chocobos.”

All the other men were looking at Noct now.

“Huh,” muttered Gladio after a moment. “Is that why you agreed to Prompto’s detour?”

Noct shrugged. “It was certainly a factor.”

“Those are all very good points,” Ignis said after a moment. “I confess I had not thought of the Chocobo Rentals, since they’ve been unusable so far, but that will certainly help save us time.”

“Oh my gosh! You mean we’ll actually get to _ride_ the chocobos?! Noct, you’re the best!” Prompto had managed to lean over and hug Noctis, both of them still in their chairs. Nyx had to quickly lift his bottle of water to his lips, trying to stifle the laughter that wanted to spill out at the sight.

Noct was complaining and batting at the arms wrapped around him. A particularly vigorous shake from Prompto actually rocked the chair Noctis was sitting in, and his flail had Gladio shifting and sitting up straight. Nyx took in the watchful look on the Shield’s face, and took his own closer look at Noct.

Prompto was now laughingly messing up Noct’s hair. Something about his movements must have had a deeper meaning to Gladio, as he stood from his chair and headed over to the two and brought his hands down on their shoulders.

“Alright you two, it’s time for the Princess here to go to sleep.”

“ _Gla_ dio,” Noct complained.

“Nuh-uh, I can see you wavering. In case everybody has forgotten, we took out an _Imperial Blockade_ this morning. We’re all tired, and then you decided to invest your first Kingsglaive. To _bed_. You too Nyx,” Gladio said, glancing across the fire at him.

The words took a moment to sink in for Nyx, but when they did, he groaned. The mention of sleep had his eyelids dragging where he had closed them in exasperation.

“Both of you, into the tent,” came another voice, and Nyx when glanced over Ignis was frowning. “We’ll secure the camp and be in soon as well. Gladio is quite right to remind us of how busy we were just this morning.”

Nyx, knowing the futility of arguing with bossy friends when they were right, gave in with a sigh. He levered himself to his feet and followed a grumbling Noct into the tent. Suddenly remembering the _other_ thing that had happened that morning, Nyx stopped just inside the doorway.

Trying to cover the suddenness of the movement and buy time, he began working his boots off. Noctis was puttering around, dropping his jacket and shoes in a corner and then grabbing some loose clothes. Nyx looked down at his boots, giving his entire attention to each and every buckle as he undid them at a fraction of his normal speed. The crinkle of a blanket—or sleeping bag in this case—shifting brought Nyx’s attention back up as he slid the boot off.

Noctis was settling in just left of the middle of the tent, obviously his normal spot. Nyx headed for the right wall, dropping his boots in the corner. Sleeping bags had been unzipped and spread out as padding, with a top layer obviously meant to be used as a covering. When Nyx finally crawled into the nest in light sleep pants and his T-shirt, for a moment he thought he could feel a stare boring into his shoulder blades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, really Nyx? Someone staring at your back?
> 
> Also, Noct asking for a "PowerUp": This is a fantasy expy of a sports drink. Technically I took the name from Poweraid, but the P actually comes from Potion. In-game lore hints that Potions are a sports drink and only have magic properties when used by the team because of Noctis. Since I already broke that lore, I couldn't exactly say Noct was drinking a Potion. Thus, my invention of a sports drink name.


	15. Hunting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a little late but I had to work Saturday and Sunday and woke to my Monday off feeling hungover.
> 
> The day's half gone and I'm just getting breakfast, so it's almost like my usual habit of posting during breakfast. :D

They rose bright and early the next morning. After a quick breakfast they set out back in the direction of the Chocobo Post. There had been some obviously mauled trees the day before, and Gladio had a hunch they could follow them to Deadeye.

Said mauled trees came into view just minutes after they set out, but there were no obvious tracks around them. Still, the group continued along the path as it wound into some rocky hills. Just as the path spread out, a deep rumbling growl echoed from over the rocks. Nyx was instantly falling into a defensive stance, old instincts taking over.

Gaze jerking up, he saw trees slowly collapsing over the next hill.

“Something’s amiss,” murmured Ignis.

“C’mon,” said Gladio, immediately turning his feet in that direction.

Nyx felt much more caution as he followed them. Rounding a bend, they came upon the recently felled trees, fresh scars marring what remained of their trunks.

Annnnd, of course, they were following right in the tracks of whatever had caused that damage. The path split, one direction continuing through the open hills, the other heading into heavily wooded ones; they of course took the second option.

Every couple feet there was another snapped, downed tree to show they hadn’t lost the trail, accompanied by the sound of falling timber, and there were little clouds of mist all over the place. Eventually they came upon a clearing where the hills spread out and the tree coverage lessened. Nyx tensed again, expecting something to leap out them.

Apparently no one else felt tense, because they simply walked into the clearing. Nyx felt a bit like gaping at them but was immediately distracted by the noise of pounding feet. Seconds later, a pack of voretooths came dashing out from between the trees, rushing past without paying them any attention, obviously scared.

“Whoa!” Prompto exclaimed. “Look at them go!”

Nyx could feel his island-raised instincts of giving a respectful berth to things that could kill you as easy as look at you warring with his more recent instincts to fight _all the things_ , but mostly, he wanted to bash his head against a tree repeatedly. It had been awhile since he had been on an actual hunt, and he had _never_ been on one with people so blasé about their own personal safety.

Apparently the only thing of note about a fleeing pack of voretooths was where they had come from, as the group continued towards the trees they had fled out of. They poked into every little offshoot of the path, verifying they were clear. Eventually the path ended at a stone structure.

There was a small passage, almost covered by some rusted sheet metal. When the Prince began leading the way into the passage to the accompaniment of deep growling, Nyx practically choked. Thankfully for his sanity, the Shield caught his shoulder with a fierce, quiet, “Noct!”

Gladio motioned that he would take point and headed into the passage with one ear cocked. Noctis, however, took the still dangerous position of second-in-line. Nyx’s heart raced when they came to a part of the passage without a roof and saw that Deadeye was literally feet away from them, and they wouldn’t be able to fight him off inside the cramped little passage. Thankfully the behemoth’s _dead eye_ — reeeeal clever naming there, har har— was facing them, so they _might_ be able to get out of this deathtrap of a passage without having to fight.

Only a few feet later, Nyx spotted a section where the rebar in the roof had been ripped out. Gladio, ever wary, crossed the gap quickly, and motioned for them to wait. Nyx felt his heart literally leap into his throat when the damn behemoth shoved its nose into the passage right between Gladio and Noctis.

Somehow, Deadeye didn’t smell the two snacks that were sitting ducks mere feet from its mouth (maybe whatever damaged its eye also damaged its nose). The beast stalked off, frustrated, and Gladio eventually motioned them to continue once he had judged it safe.

The passage only continued another couple feet after that, and being in the open again settled a lot of Nyx’s nerves. Sure, he could have warped through one of the gaps in the roofs to fight the Behemoth, but everyone else had been sitting ducks.

“It’s weak on the right—no eye, no horn,” commented Gladio.

“We’ll stay in range until we can exploit its weakness,” Ignis instructed.

They pressed on to a choke point where they had to duck under a tree, and Nyx again felt his heart in his throat when Noct took point, even if they _couldn’t_ hear the Behemoth nearby. Another stretch of boring, uninteresting, fogged forest, and they came to an old barb wire fence that the Prince had jumped before Nyx could suggest they look for another way around.

Just a few feet beyond, the trees gave way to a mist-filled field, and the silhouette of the behemoth appeared again.

Finally showing an ounce of sense and caution, Gladio dropped into a crouch, Ignis pulling up next to him. Lowly, Gladio said, “We’ve got the beast in our sights.”

“But no plan of attack,” Ignis returned. Nyx’s gaze was fixed on Noct, still several feet ahead and not falling back. Carefully, Nyx crept forward on silent feet, falling in on Noct’s left. “The behemoth should be headed back to its lair, where we can catch it fully off guard.”

 _Really?_ Nyx wondered silently. _And how would you know that? It’s morning, maybe it’s looking for a snack. And if it does go back to its lair, maybe it’s for its calisthenics routine._

Beside him, Noct let out a snort. “Yeah,” he said, sarcasm barely audible, “as long as we don’t let our guard down ourselves.” Nyx glanced sidelong at him, but there was no way to tell if the eye-rolling tone had been accompanied by an actual eye-roll.

Noct then, to Nyx’s absolute disbelief, indicated that he would stalk the behemoth alone. On the one hand, the larger the group the greater the danger of being spotted, even as it allowed members to trade off keeping the thing in their sights; and with this group in particular, Nyx definitely did not think they would be able to manage all four staying unseen. On the other hand, Noctis was _the Prince_. It seemed irresponsible to let him stalk the behemoth alone, risking him being spotted and having to fight alone.

Gritting his teeth, Nyx snagged Noct’s shoulder before he could slip away. “I’m coming with you,” he whispered, keeping his voice low to prevent it carrying, “I’m probably the only one of you that has actually done this before, and you _cannot_ go alone.”

The surprise on Noct’s face was obvious to Nyx, but after a moment he simply nodded in acceptance, and they hurried after the behemoth. It was slightly difficult, stalking a behemoth through an open, misty field, but the plethora of boulders dotting the field offered plenty of cover. Eventually, the beast jumped onto, and then over a ridge of rock. They managed to find a small slip of a passage to squeeze through and determined that they had found the thing’s lair.

It took a short five minutes for the rest of the group to join them, and Nyx spent them prowling, getting a feel for the ruined building they were standing in. He went far enough ahead to see the building end, with a small cliff in the distance that the behemoth was perched lazily atop. Target located, Nyx headed back to where Noct had stopped at an outcropping of stones glowing with natural fire magic. Nyx noted the magic, considering in the back of his mind what might have aligned it to a fire nature as he settled against a wall to check his equipment.

When Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto joined them, Nyx saw Noct passing a small ball, glowing red, to Ignis and Prompto. They started strolling casually through the building, following the hollowed-out corridor as it wound around like a giant S. And then they strolled just as casually out of the building and the protection it offered.

Nyx felt strangely like his soul was leaving his body.

The Prince and his retinue were just happily walking straight towards the beast. They weren’t trying to scout the area or get a lay of the land. They hadn’t checked their equipment or looked up the habits of behemoths. They weren’t doing anything to give themselves the advantage, they were just… strolling right into a behemoth’s lair without a care in the world.

Before Nyx could reboot and drag them back by their ears for a lecture on proper hunting precautions, the mist that had hid them so long began fading. A soft rumbling growl started up as the behemoth noticed intruders in its lair.

“Gladio,” Noct said, and Nyx glanced over to see him staring up at the behemoth, a light glowing in his eyes, “It’s weak to shields and broadswords both, so you’ll be doing the heavy hitting. We’ll cover you.” Noct’s eyes came down from the cliff to take in the field. “Ignis, Prompto. Target those oil drums. Call your shots when you take one, and we’ll get out of the way.”

Weapons were appearing in showers of blue. Nyx still felt the group was horribly unprepared, but at least it wasn’t _quite_ as bad as he had thought. Though Ignis’ drawled, “Shall we,” still made him want to face-palm.

When Deadeye got agitated enough to jump down off its perch, they were ready.

Noct did indeed stick close to Gladio, darting in to fend off attacks and catching the beast on his own broadsword whenever possible. Sometimes Gladio would take the opening to land a hit, but sometimes he would be in the middle of a dodge when Noct stepped in, leaving him awkwardly far from the combat and off balance.

A shout of “bombs away” had Nyx instantly warping back and away. He saw the glowing ball Noct had handed out earlier flying through the air and finally got to learn what it did; namely, explode in a cloud of fire. Ignis’ aim had been dead on, landing on top of the oil drum between the behemoth’s front legs. The resulting explosion of fire caused the beast to let out a feral roar of pain.

Gladio moved back in while Deadeye thrashed, trying to get the drop on it. Nyx winced when he took a flailing paw to the chest instead, going flying with a shout. He warped in before Deadeye could realize one of its aggressors was down and vulnerable, aiming for the tail.

The distraction worked almost too well as the beast swung around snarling, trying to sink its claws into him. Nyx quickly warped away again, this time up the decrepit water tower. Before anyone else could engage, Prompto hollered, “incoming”, tossing his ball of fiery destruction at the behemoth’s good eye.

It fell short. The luck of the six must have been on Prompto’s side, though, because the behemoth had turned at the shout, bringing it into range of the blast. It roared again as fire licked up the side of its head, staggering backwards.

Gladio and Noct took the chance to attack its back legs, Prompto aiming bullets at Deadeye’s face to keep it distracted. Nyx took the opportunity to warp down onto its back, burying his blades as deep as he could, trying to reach its spine. They all kept it thoroughly distracted as Ignis rushed it and slit its exposed throat, decisively ending the behemoth’s life.

Not wanting to get crushed in any death throes, Nyx yanked hard at his knives to free them, already throwing himself sideways. Mid-fall he tossed a knife towards the ridge, letting the warp stop his tumble. Deadeye hit the ground hard enough to make everything tremble just as Nyx reappeared.

With the behemoth finally dead, Nyx prowled its lair to come down from the battle while the others tried to get their breath back by its body. In the back corner, he found a small passage cut into the cliff covered with a piece of sheet metal.

“Think I might have found a short-cut,” he called back to the guys. Looking closely at his map he found that they were nearly at the edge of the tangle of hills that marked the Nebulawood. If this wasn’t an exit, they would have to retrace their entire path through the middle of the woods.

When the guys came over, Noct commented, “Yeah, you found it,” before promptly sliding into the passage and kicking the sheet metal aside. Nyx would have had a panic attack about him being so blasé over his safety, but he had just seen the sheer skill and power Noct wielded in the fight with Deadeye.

From there, it was about an hour’s jog, circling the Nebulawood to get back to the Chocobo Post. Wiz was effusive in his praise and gratitude when they told him Deadeye was gone, and soon they had rented a couple chocobos and were heading into the Slough in search of Sania’s frogs.

They hopped off the chocobos when Prompto spotted some voretooths hanging around a pond. A quick check of the hunt they had picked up said that these were their targets, which meant it was also the area Sania had wanted them to search for her frogs.

Nyx fell back just slightly, letting Ignis and Gladio take the lead as he picked out one of the farthest creatures as his target. Gauging the distance carefully, Nyx slowed even more, bringing his target into range just as the vanguard engaged.

A throw and a warp, and the first voretooth was dead before Nyx even managed to pull his knife out of the corpse. He was already turning, ready for the next, and was greeted with a burst of blue crystals breaking in front of his face. Rather than pull his sword free, Noct continued his strike through the voretooth’s body, beheading it without a flinch.

Noct turned back to the battle behind them, absently flicking the blood off his sword. As the motion finished, his blade vanished, to be replaced with a gun.

Nyx was content to stay back and let Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto figure things out with the numbers reduced. As he had seen with Deadeye and the blockade, they were all decent fighters; what they needed most was experience. Noctis stood next to him, landing shots in feet and tails whenever it looked like one of the creatures might sneak up on one of the three.

Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto were taking advantage of the scattered pack and dealing some good damage. They even managed to work together a couple times to land crippling blows.

Once one of the voretooths finally fell, they were able to put more pressure on the others. Noct lowered his gun to reload it, but didn’t end up raising it again. The last few creatures fell one by one, each faster than the last.

“Where would guys be without me?” Prompto bragged.

“Getting a little cocky there, aren’t you blondie?” Gladio needled him back.

 “Right,” Noct said, vanishing his gun. “This pond is where Sania told us to go, so let’s start looking for those frogs.”

Frog hunting turned out to be very frustrating. They prowled around the pond a bit, but only managed to spot a single red frog. Noct had no qualms about the errand and managed to catch it, but both he and Gladio insisted that Sania wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than five frogs.

The rapidly changing light as the sun steadily lowered in the sky might have had something to do with their difficulties, but eventually, after nearly having to instigate a full inch-by-inch search, they managed to find more. Often, they heard the croaking of a frog before they managed to spot it. Noct seemed ready to chase after all of the frogs, but Nyx, determined to contribute his fair share, grabbed the second frog. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto followed his example and all caught their own frogs as well.

When Noct looked around at all his friends standing with frogs in hand, he had a very nonplussed expression. “Well, I guess that’s all of them then,” he muttered. The frogs ended up deposited in a tank Sania had pressed on Noct while insisting only the freshest specimens would do.

With how low the sun was in the sky, the decision was made to return to the same Haven they had slept at the previous night. It was barely worth getting back on the chocobos to get there, but Prompto’s enthusiasm for the birds still hadn’t worn out. Noct, Ignis, and Gladio were all obviously willing to indulge him, and Nyx didn’t really have a reason to protest.

Knowing now how they did things, Nyx pitched in with setting up camp and within the hour they were sitting around the fire chatting comfortably, the chocobos a snoozing lump of feathers at their backs. Prompto brought out a camera Nyx had seen but not really registered before, flicking through various pictures he had taken at different points in the day.

Seeing his interest, Prompto relocated his chair next to the icebox and began going through all his old pictures, explaining them as he went. Some of the pictures were very nice indeed, the colors and composition positively entrancing, if not the subject matter. Eye catching on something, Nyx cocked his head curiously, glancing back and forth between the pictures and their subject.

The Noct in the pictures had a spiky hair style that obviously took a great deal of dedicated work and hair gel. The Noct across the fire however…

The Noct across the fire didn’t seem to have put anywhere near the same amount of effort into his hair. It hung straight, one lock hanging between his brows and the rest just brushing his chin. Nyx could feel his brow furrowing in concern. Those spikes took a _lot_ of dedication, and the sudden change to an almost no effort hairstyle—

Understanding struck like lightning, and Nyx wanted to smack himself in the face, the answer was so obvious. Obviously, Noct hadn’t been interested in styling his hair since Insomnia fell. Why would he be? Nyx could even recognize now that he had seen the last struggling bits of that hairstyle that first day they had found him.

The Prince might seem to be powering through his grief, but here was one of the biggest signs that he wasn’t. Finding mundane bits of his previous routine to suddenly be uninteresting, maybe even repulsive… Nyx grimaced. He couldn’t believe he had bought the façade for so long.

Nyx went to bed that night with a lump stuck in his throat. Somehow, the insight into Noct’s head had stirred up a lot of his own emotions over King Regis’ choices and actions, ultimately bringing up a thread of grief that he couldn’t easily put back down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Nyx, you're giving me feels. That's a great theory to explain your evidence, though in this case it's not quite right...


	16. A Lazy Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> creeps in very late realizing I haven't posted this yet.

The next morning was a lazier one than when they were hunting Deadeye. After breakfast, Nyx spotted Noct standing on the edge of the Haven, looking towards the lake they had been at yesterday. His part of packing up finished, he walked over to stand beside the prince, glancing at his face before trying to see what had caught his attention.

When nothing jumped out to him, Nyx looked back to Noct. The expression on his face was unfamiliar. Nyx chewed over the words for a minute before deciding to just ask. “What’s up?”

Noct’s eyes flickered to him for a moment before he looked away, dropping them to study his hands. When he spoke, the words seemed almost forced, “Nothing.”

Nyx just kept looking at Noct, knowing he was lying. He was debating over whether to call him out or let him get away with it when Gladio wandered over. He draped an arm across Noctis’ shoulders and leaned on him in a deliberately provoking fashion.

“What’s up, Princess?”

Noct pushed Gladio’s arm off his shoulders with a sound of disgust. “It’s nothing,” he said, sounding sullen for once.

“That’s not a ‘nothing’ face, Noct.”

Noct heaved a put-upon sigh, his attention already swinging out towards the lake again. “Fine,” he snapped lightly, “When we were out catching the frogs, I thought I saw someone fishing. I’m wondering if they’re still there.”

“I shoulda’ guessed,” Gladio rumbled, sounding fond. “So we’re gonna’ be hunting this fisherman down, then.”

“ _Do_ keep in mind that we still have to return the chocobos to Wiz. You can’t spend _all_ day fishing.” Ignis’ voice came from behind them, and Nyx glanced back to see him closing the buckles on the last case sitting on the Haven before sending it into the ether. Prompto was already bouncing over with the chocobos, looking eager.

“We’re riding the chocobos, right? We’ve still got the whole morning on their rental.”

The curl to Noct’s lips was small but clear.

“Let’s get goin’ then,” Gladio said, clapping a hand on Noct’s back before accepting his chocobo from Prompto. “Don’t want this fisherman to wander away while we’re just standin’ around.”

They started out heading back in the direction of where they had found the frogs. Noct pulled his chocobo up where the two lakes squeezed the land into a narrow strip and went on foot towards some tall greenery to their left. Nyx hurried after him, not really concerned but not wanting to lose him behind the plants that couldn’t decide between being tall shrubs or short trees.

There on the other side of the greenery, they found a man fishing, like Noct had said. Noct had paused only a few feet ahead of Nyx, allowing him and the other three to catch up. Noct turned his head, probably glancing back to check they were there, before he continued forward to the man.

Without turning around to acknowledge them, the man spoke. “If you’re here for the huntin’, do it someplace else. I don’t want you boys scarin’ the fish.”

“Actually,” Noct said, “We’re here ‘cause I saw you fishing.”

The man turned to look at them now. “You’re into fishin’, my boy?”

Noct’s tone was noticeably lighter when he replied, “Yeah, I fish whenever I can.”

“Well then, a fellow fish nut! C’mon. Let me show you a good spot.” As he spoke, the man was fiddling with the rod in his hand, making a grasping motion in the air in front of him before fiddling with the rod again. Finally satisfied, he swung it up on his shoulder and gestured for them to follow him.

He led them to a small pier nearby, with an abandoned shack and a camping chair set on the point just next to it. As he walked, he talked. “Haven’t seen you around these parts before. First time here?”

Noct took a breath, and said, “somethin’ like that,” on a long sigh.

“Well,” the man glanced at Noct, peering at him for a moment before looking back to where he was leading them. He continued cheerfully, “The name’s Navyth. I’ve traveled the whole world, lookin’ for new fishin’. If you’re as keen as you say, what d’ya say to a challenge?”

“A challenge?” Noct asked as they came to a stop at the pier.

“The Crag Barramundi. Lurks in these waters,” Navyth said with a gesture to the lake, “Catch ‘im, and I’ll make it worth your while.”

Nyx glanced at Noct, curious, taking in the grin on his lips. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Navyth grinned back at Noct. “I like your spirit, my boy.”

Gauntlet thrown, Navyth headed for the camp chair, probably going back to fishing. Nyx and the others followed Noct up the stairs. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto were all strolling slowly along the length of the pier, in contrast to Noct, who walked with long, quick strides to the end.

Part of Nyx had been silently wondering where the Prince’s fishing rod was, and he nearly dropped his face into his hand when Noct summoned it in a flash of blue from the Arsenal. _Of course,_ he berated himself, _where else would it be._

Noct fiddled with his rod for a minute, bending down to a box next to him and pulling out a small yellow thing. Curious, Nyx moved closer, watching what looked like a streamlined miniature chocobo be attached to a near invisible wire. Satisfied with his knots, Noct let it go. It swung in the air as Noct changed his stance from bracing the rod against a shoulder to holding it out over the water.

A fluid movement of his wrist sent the little yellow chocobo flying out over the lake.

“And now we wait,” rumbled Gladio cheerfully.

“Think I’ll play King’s Knight in the meantime,” Prompto said, leaning up against the side of the shack that was sat at the foot of the pier.

“Better not,” Gladio returned, nudging Prompto’s shoulder, “his Highness might get sulky.”

It didn’t take Noct very long to land a correct fish; one cast, two casts, three casts. The second cast Noct grimaced at and pulled back in immediately, but the third cast he twitched only once or twice before the fish took the bait. Noct patiently let the fish drag his line around before it calmed; he managed to reel it halfway in before it panicked and tried to escape. A few patient minutes later, and Noct was hauling the fish onto the dock.

“Hmmm,” Ignis hummed approvingly as Noct reeled it in the last couple feet, “you’ve improved.”

“Got it,” Noct exclaimed as he hauled the fish into the air, voice softer than Nyx was expecting. “The prize catch.”

Prompto moved from where he had been playing on his phone, pulling out his camera and trying to get a look now that Noct had landed the fish. “That’s the one that Navyth was talking about?”

“Yep. That’s a crag barramundi, alright,” Ignis commented. Noct turned around to show them the fish. Nyx didn’t really know much about fish other than eating them, so he tried to take it in, but… honestly, there was no way he would be able to distinguish it from any other freshly caught fish in the world.

After a minute of admiration, Noct headed back over to Navyth, showing him the proof of his accomplishment. Navyth exclaimed over it in surprise and no little pleasure—he must not have been entirely convinced that Noct was truly a fisherman despite his claims.

“Well, a promise is a promise,” Navyth said genially, bending down to his own box and pulling something out. “Here’s your prize.”

“You… sure?” Noct asked, voice lilting in question and surprise both.

“Sure I’m sure. With this lure,” and Navyth shook his hand just slightly, causing the object he was holding to jiggle, “you’ll be able to diversify—reel in more kinds of fish. Catchin’ things you ain’t caught before,” Navyth laughed, “end of the day, that’s what bein’ an angler’s all about. You’re still wet behind the ears, but you got potential.”

Noct finally relented and accepted the lure that was being pressed into his hands. He gave Navyth a pleasant farewell, and then turned to where they had been waiting to give him some space with the fisherman. Noct’s expression as he looked down at the lure still sitting in his palm was soft, and Nyx found himself moving forward before he could think anything of it.

“What did he give you?”

Noct tipped his hand so that Nyx could see it. “It’s called the Knife T. Tonberry,” he explained, using a single finger to roll it over in his palm. It looked like a slim green fish body, with a brown ‘robe’ wrapped around its middle. With the name, Nyx could actually connect it to a tonberry, but he hadn’t before it was mentioned.

“You’re gonna’ try out that lure, right,” Prompto prodded.

“Of course he is,” Gladio answered before Noct could.

“Well, if you guys insist.”

Ignis’ voice had a teasing lilt to it. “In that case, you’re in charge of finding dinner tonight.”

It was just getting into the early part of the afternoon when Gladio commented, “At this rate, we’re gonna’ fish this place dry.” Noct turned from the lake to survey the haul that Gladio had steadily been filling a cooler with. After a moment, he gave a satisfied little nod before ‘holstering’ his rod with a flourish of his wrist.

“Guess we better get those frogs to Sania, then.”

They took the chocobos back to the Post, dropping them off with Wiz, and hopped into the Regalia. The drive back to Coernix Station passed relatively quickly, and they were soon pulling into a parking space at the pumps and jumping out.

“Perhaps we should speak to the tipster first,” Ignis suggested. “He at least will be quick.”

Indeed, talking to the tipster of the Crow’s Nest diner went quite quickly. An impressive amount of Gil was handed over for such a simple hunt, as well as a metal circle.

“So, what did we get,” Prompto asked as they walked out the door.

“The tipster named it a ‘Warrior’s Anklet’,” Ignis relayed. “The name likely comes from the etching of an ancient warrior.”

“It has a bit of magic,” Noct reported, turning it over and over in his hands. “Feels like… mhm… I think it will blunt some physical damage? Hmm… maybe make it easier to fight through damage.” Noct finally stopped turning it, letting it rest flat on his palm. “Anyone want dibs?”

When no one spoke up immediately, Ignis hummed. “I’m accustomed to wearing such things at least.”

“Ignis it is,” Gladio rumbled, and the ring of metal passed from Noct to Ignis. Hunt taken care of, it was time to deal with Sania again.

Noct, having been the one to agree to help the woman out, was the one who approached Sania with the tank full of frogs.

“Look at all these lovelies,” Sania practically cooed. “Thank you, boys. Now my research can spring along.” The quotes around ‘spring’ were practically shouted in her tone.

“Research?”

“From longer nights to earthquakes, there’s been a lot of strange phenomena of late. The world’s out of whack, and there’s no end to the mysteries that want for solving.”

There was a long moment of silence, and Nyx glanced at Noct’s face to see him blinking rapidly, eyes wide. He managed to pick up the thread of conversation again, saying in a choked voice, “So, why frogs?”

“Well you see, red frogs only appeared recently. We don’t know what gave rise to the mutation. But this tiny critter could hold the key to the world’s mysteries in its webbed feet.” Sania cooed over the frogs for a moment. Her next words were directed at them without looking up. “When can you help again?”

“Can’t really say.”

“Well, when you can, you let me know. Oh! And here’s a token of my thanks for finding the frogs.” Sania looked up just long enough to press something small into Noct’s hands before becoming lost in her frogs again.

Noct accepted the little thing and began backing off, obviously happy to escape the woman without being roped into another task. They were heading back to the car when Ignis spoke up.

“Sania… last name Yeagre, if I’m not mistaken.”

Nyx was puzzling over the words even as Gladio barked a laugh. “Took you long enough to make the connection.”

“Sania who?” Nyx asked when no one else seemed about to.

“Sania Yeagre, famed professor of biology. Her works have been published the world over.”

“Whoa, she’s a big deal,” inquired Prompto. “You sure don’t get that impression.”

“Yes, well, what did she give you Noct?”

Noct shrugged and opened his hand. “It’s a pendant. Just enough magic in it to ward against most poisons. Any of you want it?”

Ignis hummed, and Prompto leaned in to poke curiously at the star-shaped bit of metal. “Hmm. Maybe Gladio should take it?”

“What? Why d'you want me to wear it?”

“Well, it did come from a _lady friend_ of yours, and you’ll certainly be able to show it off the most,” Prompto told him cheerfully. “Besides, you’re the only one of us who wears necklaces on a regular basis anyways. We’d probably forget it after taking it off the first night.”

Gladio grumbled but accepted the pendant from Noct as they made it back to the car.

“Where to now, Noct?”

“I guess we should head to Lestallum and see Iris and the others.” Everyone made agreeable noises and climbed back into the car to set off.

Half an hour down the road with Lestallum nowhere in sight, it was getting dark.

“Perhaps we should call it a night, Noct, before the daemons come out.”

Beside Nyx, Noct let out a thoughtful noise and wiggled around to pull out his map. “Have we passed a road to our left,” he asked, tracing their path from the station.

“Five minutes ago.”

Noct tapped the map decisively. “There should be a parking spot coming up any minute now then. There’s a Haven just across the road from it. We can stop there rather than having to backtrack.”

Ignis did as suggested, and minutes later they were pulling off the road into a parking lot. The Haven was perched just up a hill across the road, as Noct had said.

Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto were all quick to get out of the car and set off up the hill. Noct walked more slowly behind them, apparently unbothered by the possibility of being caught by daemons. Nyx found himself falling into step with him, equally unconcerned.

When they crested the edge of the Haven, Gladio already had the tent laid out in its spot and was putting the rods together. Prompto had the pile of camp chairs he had retrieved from the ether, and Ignis had his table set up and was inspecting his knives.

“Noct,” Ignis said, switching to another knife, “you did the fishing, so please select which ones you would like to eat tonight. I’ll process them all, but best to start with the ones we’ll be eating.”

Noct gave a tiny sigh as he produced the cooler from his magic and began digging around in it. Nyx went to help first Prompto and then Gladio with their setting up. Once they were done, they checked with Ignis, but the man shooed them away, saying Noctis was more than enough help with tasks for the night.

The three of them settled in around the fire and Prompto and Gladio decided to dig out their phones. Nyx eyed them from his perch on the icebox. When the phones started emitting slightly familiar tinny noises, he asked, “That the game you were playing back at the caravan?”

“Right,” Prompto exclaimed, “you said you hadn’t seen it, didn’t you?” He promptly shifted his chair over so he could show Nyx his phone and began excitedly explaining the mechanics of the game. Nyx listened, vaguely curious, and that was how they whiled the time away until Ignis declared dinner was ready.

Crawling into the tent that night, Nyx felt truly relaxed for the first time since the delegation from Niflheim had arrived in Insomnia.


	17. Lestallum

They rolled into Lestallum the next day.

They had had a bit of a late start that morning, after Ignis exasperatedly sent his companions back into the tent to change into civilian clothes. As he had explained to Nyx earlier, entering Lestallum in their black Crownsguard fatigues would draw unwanted attention.

Their late start was extended by Noct receiving a phone call from the Marshal just as they started packing up. Noct told him that they were on their way to Lestallum, and after saying their goodbyes he reported that Cor would be meeting up with them some time the next day.

After they finally managed to pack up, Noct had taken the wheel for the drive to Lestallum. He was now carefully backing them into a spot in the largest parking lot Nyx had seen since Insomnia.

All of them had been pretty impressed as they passed through the tunnel on the eastern approach to Lestallum. The first sight of the city had drawn some exclamations of admiration and intense interest. Now, getting out of the car, Nyx felt the heat roll over them.

They headed up the stairs from the parking lot, a babble of voices washing over them as they crested the top. “One hell of a crowd,” Prompto commented

“This must be the main thoroughfare,” Ignis said as they carefully crossed the street.

“Iris?” Gladio asked. Nyx glanced over quickly, but saw the big man was on his phone. “We just rolled into town. Where are you?”

“‘Kay, thanks. Bye,” he said, hanging up just a moment later. “She’s at the Leville. Let’s go.”

Noct snorted. “Weren’t you complaining about her not calling you? That right there is the perfect reason for her to call someone else.”

“Oi.”

“You didn’t even talk to her, just asked a question and hung up.”

_“Oi.”_

“Indeed. Perhaps she called Noct earlier because she wanted to actually _talk_ to someone, not just pass on information.”

“You too, Ignis?” The group finally broke out laughing at his reactions, Gladio frowning grumpily at them until they finished.

Nyx couldn’t keep the grin off his face as they set off towards the hotel, absently rubbing at an ache in his chest. It was important to be able to laugh with your comrades, and Gladio really had set himself up for it. The alley they were walking through opened into a courtyard with a fountain. They had just drawn abreast of it when the ground started shaking.

Noct immediately stopped short. Nyx glanced at him in surprise; it wasn’t that big an earthquake, really. Insomnia had had them pretty often, Galahd even more so; they all should have been familiar enough with them to know this one was rather small.

“Do you feel that,” Noct said, eyes wider than normal as he looked at them.

“You mean the earthquake?” It was Gladio that answered him, sounding puzzled.

Noct’s face dropped into a deep frown. After a moment he flinched, raising a hand to his forehead and squeezing his eyes shut.

Gladio’s voice was suddenly sharp. “What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.” Noct’s eyes had slid back open, two burning points of blue in his face. “My head just started throbbing.”

“You alright?” The inquiry came from a concerned looking Prompto.

Noct finally dropped his hand, but still looked troubled. “Yeah, I’m fine.” After a moment he turned to continue across the square to the hotel.

They were greeted in the lobby of the hotel by Gladio’s sister, the aforementioned Iris. She chatted with them for a minute, and Nyx could feel her eye lingering on him a couple times. She let them rent a room and then suggested they talk more upstairs.

It seemed the invitation was also an occasion for them to meet her companions, an old man and a young boy. Gladio greeted them with a relieved, “Jared and Talcott! Is it good to see you.”

“Prince Noctis!” the young boy, Talcott, said eagerly. “Iris is safe with me!” Moments later Jared, the boy’s grandfather apparently, excused them and escorted Talcott away.

Without anyone standing on ceremony, they all took a seat. Nyx absently rubbed at his chest. Finally, Noct broke through the ever-increasing awkwardness. “So, Iris,” he hesitated, seeming to change what he meant to say mid-sentence. “You got out of the city okay?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “The Citadel took a beating. But a lot of the outlying neighborhoods made it through in one piece, if not a pretty one.”

“Hmm. The empire must have had tactical targets in mind before they brought in daemons,” Ignis mused.

“So,” Iris’ eyes slipped over to Nyx again, “are you one of the Kingsglaive?”

He gave her a careful smile. “Yep. Nyx Ulric. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh!” Iris was suddenly looking at him wide-eyed, surprise obvious. “I was looking for you last week,” her gaze was suddenly evaluating as it ran over him again.

“You were,” Gladio asked in surprise.

“I was trying to catch Noct before he left the Citadel. Nyx apparently drove him back to his apartment.”

“Seems it’s a small world,” commented Ignis.

Iris suddenly spun back towards Noct, who was staring blankly at Nyx. “You know if there’s anything else, you can ask me.”

“Yeah, uh,” Noct blinked back at her for a moment, “thanks.”

“And about Lady Lunafreya. I keep hearing she was in town. Apparently she left right away, but at least it means she’s okay.”

Nyx found himself straightening, hand dropping away from his chest. What was the Oracle doing in Lestallum? She was supposed to be on her way to Altissia!

Noct’s head tilted down, his hair swinging forward to shadow his eyes. After a long moment he looked up again and said, “Good to hear,” managing a small smile for Iris. “Thanks.”

Apparently finished, Iris stood. “Well, get a good night’s rest,” and she left cheerfully.

The Leville being a large hotel, they had offered to provide a roll-away bed for their fifth member. Slightly paranoid at how the Prince had ended up in the same bed as him their previous times in a caravan, Nyx was quick to volunteer for the small single-man bed.

Lestallum marked the first night of fitful sleep since the Fall. Nyx tossed and turned, in turns too warm and horribly itchy. Consequently, when Gladio rose early in the morning to do a short exercise routine, Nyx’s eyes slitted open to watch him. When Ignis rose and vanished into the bathroom, the sleepy part of Nyx’s brain sighed resignedly and gave in.

Nyx was therefore the third to rise, shortly followed by Prompto. There was a small fight to try and get Noct up, with him grumping at Gladio that _they didn’t have to do anything today, why should he get up early?_ The eventual decision to let him sleep in seemed inevitable.

The four of them headed downstairs to have a complimentary breakfast in the attached restaurant. When they wandered back into the lobby, they ran into Iris, Jared, and Talcott.

“Hey guys!” Iris called, obviously happy to catch them before they wandered off.

“Iris, Jared. Talcott! How ya doin’,” greeted Gladio.

“Great! We just had breakfast. Have you had breakfast yet? Where’s Prince Noctis?”

Ignis replied to Talcott’s enthusiastic questions, “Yes, we just finished breakfast here. I’m afraid Noctis is still asleep.”

“Oh. So, what are you guys going to do now?”

“Hmm. We haven’t decided, but we _do_ have a small shopping list to take care of while we’re in town.”

“I can help you with that! What do you need?”

“We need one or two more pieces of camping equipment, and then we were going to see about getting Nyx here a phone.”

Talcott was suddenly all wide-eyed concern as he spun around to look at Nyx. “You don’t have a phone? Did you lose it in the attack?”

Nyx felt strangely awkward under that gaze and found himself rubbing his neck. From the subtle and overt reactions the others had given to him saying he had never had a phone, he found himself hesitant to mention it to this earnest young boy.

Discretion was the better part of valor here, and he found himself saying, “Yes, that. …I’ve been making do since Insomnia, but since we’re here…”

“Well, I would be glad to help,” Talcott said officiously, and suddenly Nyx felt weirdly like he was standing in front of a miniature butler. “I can show you guys where all the shops are. There’re stores for two different phone companies just off the square. And I can point out which phones I’ve seen people using around Lestallum!”

Nyx glanced at the boy’s grandfather, unsure of what to think of the offer. The man cleared his throat and addressed them all, “If you don’t mind taking Talcott with you? He would very much like to walk around town, and I am just a little old to accompany him.”

“Well Talcott, sounds you will get to come with us,” Prompto said cheerily, a strangely triumphant edge to his smile.

It was only as they were heading into a phone store Talcott had led them to that Nyx realized why. He never agreed to buy a phone!

~*~

After buying a cheap smartphone several generations out of date, they had swung by the afore-mentioned camping store for a chair and more bedding. The rest of the morning had been spent letting Talcott lead them around Lestallum. Nyx did manage to purchase an extra outfit and his own sleeping gear at one point, including a jacket that would manage to offer some protection in a fight without advertising their recent origins in Insomnia. He immediately took the chance to change his T-shirt and tugged the jacket on to cover his arm. Talcott exclaimed knowledgeably all the while over local tradition and rumor, mostly in an indulgent Prompto’s ear.

They arrived back to the Leville to see Noctis and Iris in the lobby. Noctis appeared to be finishing a phone call just as they walked up to him.

“That was Cor, checking where we were. He just arrived,” Noct announced to them.

“Guess we should get ready to go then.”

“Gladdy! You guys just got here. Do you really have to leave so soon?”

“Wouldn’t do to keep the Marshal waiting, Iris.”

Iris pouted at her brother for a moment, but then got a sparkle in her eye. “Fine, but I’m not leaving you guys until you actually get in the car. So there.”

Gladio’s helpless expression caused a low, well-worn pang in Nyx’s chest as he was reminded of his own sister. Selena had also been accustomed to getting her way.

“I’ll just run our purchases upstairs while we wait,” Ignis said, a smile twitching at his lips.

“I’ll go with you,” Nyx said. Thoughts of Selena were an old grief by now, but the pang in his chest had been a little fiercer than he had expected. Getting away for a minute would be helpful.

As they were dropping things off in their room, Ignis took a look around and sighed exasperatedly. “It seems we really can’t spend a night in a hotel without spreading things all over the place.” Nyx also swept a glance over the room, noting a book on the side table, camera things spread over the coffee table, and a pair of socks just sticking out from under a bed, among other things.

“Definitely going to need to sweep the place to be sure we haven’t forgotten anything as we leave,” he agreed.

When they went back downstairs, Iris, Gladio, Noct and Prompto had sat down in the lobby. Talcott had disappeared, probably off to find his grandfather. Gladio gave them a nod as they approached, but Noct’s attention had gone to the doorway, and he stood. Nyx looked as well, and marveled slightly at the Marshal’s serendipitous timing, as he was just walking through the door.

“Cor,” Noct greeted him.

The Marshal inclined his head, but didn’t speak until he had closed the distance, returning the greeting with a very quiet, “Highness.”

“So, what did you find out?” Noct asked, crossing his arms over his chest and turning inwards to their little circle.

“There are two dungeons by the Vesperpool, places that are similar to Keycatrich; infested with aggressive wildlife and daemons. Some of the hunters did recall seeing an ornate building deep in the Myrlwood, so that’s one tomb substantiated.”

“You mentioned that the Empire had sealed the area off,” inquired Ignis.

“Yes. There’s two access points to the Vesperpool,” the Marshal pulled a map out, and Gladio and Prompto, still sitting, helped spread it out in the middle of the circle. “Going North from Lestallum is the Hunter HQ, Meldacio, where the first tunnel through the mountains is. Going Southwest,” Cor traced the road on the map, cutting west until the road T-ed and he went North, “is another tunnel through the mountains. Both tunnels are gated and locked. There’re no visible forces, but the hunters have observed infantry units and Magitek Armors passing through the gates, so we can assume that they have a blockade set up just out of sight.

“What they’re doing in the Vesperpool, nobody’s actually sure. Dave mentioned cases of hunters hearing complaints about harvesting from the couple Imperial Officers that have been by, but what they might be harvesting and what they need it for, nobody knows for sure.”

“So,” Nyx murmured, eyes tracing the map, “can we break through?”

Cor made a noise is his throat, and said, “There’s two different battles, the Eastern tunnel and the Western tunnel. A two-pronged attack to take them both out at once could be arranged, but unlike at the Norduscaen Blockade, the two positions are too far apart for the Empire to send reinforcements.”

“There’s also the hunters to think about,” Noct added. “We don’t have enough people to mount two full assaults, which would likely mean we’d end up drawing on the hunters for support.

“Frankly, the hunters are too valuable to put in the sights of the Empire.” Nyx cocked his head, curious where Noct was going. “The hunters are the first line of defense for keeping people safe from monsters and daemons, and they’re going to be desperately needed before things can improve. There’s no need to remind the Empire that they’re practically Crownsguard.”

“All true,” Ignis said, nodding to Noct with a curve to his mouth and a brightness in his eyes. “So, a single assault then. East or West?”

“The Western tunnel would be a better target, given that we’re trying to not show the hunters actively revolting against the Empire. Break the Western tunnel,” Cor drew a finger along the map, “pass through the Myrlwood for the Royal Arm,” his finger traced slightly west, “then head into Steyliff Grove, the other dungeon,” his finger moved east, “and break out through the Eastern tunnel.”

“And breaking _out_ is a valid reason for the hunters to get involved,” Prompto put in.

“What’cha thinkin’, blondie,” Gladio asked.

“Well, hunters get calls about trouble, don’t they? So someone calls the HQ, begs for help in the Vesperpool, and they’ll start trying to talk to the Empire and get in. Audible fighting starts in the middle of that, it’s perfectly reasonable for them to start trying to break the blockade to help whoever’s in trouble.”

“It’s a good idea,” Ignis said, adjusting his glasses.

“As long as there’s an actual human officer there, and the hunters let him retreat without trouble, the Empire probably won’t come down on the hunters afterwards,” Noct muttered.

“Sounds like a plan,” Cor declared. “The hunters said there’s a Haven here,” he tapped a spot next to the Vesperpool, “and another inside the Myrlwood,” his finger moved west to tap another spot. “I scouted the Western tunnel, and there’s a Haven here,” his finger tapped a spot by an intersection, “and an outpost here,” the outpost was further south, out of their way.

“We can depart now and rest closer to the tunnel before the assault, or we can push our luck and aim to sleep at the Vesperpool Haven tonight.”

“I’m loath to spend the money for a Caravan again so soon,” Ignis said, crossing arms and tucking his wrists up against his elbows. One of his fingers began tapping thoughtfully. “The Haven would be on our way. I suppose we could begin the drive and decide whether to press on once we reach it.”

There was a moment of silence. When it stretched, no one having anything to say, Nyx pulled out a well-practiced grin. “Sounds like a plan. You meeting us there, Marshal?”

The Marshal met Nyx’s gaze for a moment before answering. “Yes. Are you all ready to go?”

Ignis gave a polite little cough into his hand, tipping his head just enough that no expression could be seen behind his glasses. “I’m afraid you arrived before we could get ready to go. We still need to head upstairs and pack up, and then check out.”

Gladio’s cheeks seemed just a shade redder as he said, “If you want to head out, we shouldn’t be long behind you.”

The Marshal surveyed them for a minute, before tipping his head. “I’m parked next to Regalia. I’ll take the opportunity to stock up on things while I’m in town, and head out once I’m done.” Quickly, he folded up his map and touched his hand to his shoulder in a subtle salute to Noctis. Then he was gone.

Prompto’s bright, “Well, upstairs we go,” got the rest of them moving.


	18. Blockade Breaking

It took them about half an hour to make their way to the car. They glanced around the parking lot, but nothing stood out as a vehicle belonging to the Marshal, and Ignis claimed recognition of the car’s only neighbor as being there the day before.

Fairly certain that the Marshal had gone ahead, Ignis took the wheel. Nyx, Noct, and Gladio were just settling in in the back, when Noct suddenly shot up, and insisted they rent chocobos before leaving. Thankfully there was a rental spot there in the parking lot, and Noct hurried over, rubbing at his forehead before deciding on a week-long rental. They made a quick stop for gas, not sure when they would have the opportunity for it again in the next few days, and then they were on their way.

The drive was mostly quiet. Ignis and Prompto had a brief argument about radio stations versus music, while Gladio had his nose buried deep in a book. At one point Ignis had to bring the car to a stop for a pack of voretooths crossing the road. Prompto’s voice had been somewhat wondering as he had commented, “Where do you think they’re going?”

Noct had either fallen asleep or was meditating, and didn’t react to the stop. The stop did, however, cause him to slump over and begin leaning on his shoulder; Nyx deliberately focused on ignoring the contact.

It was around four o’clock when they pulled into the parking spot for the Haven. Cor was there already, leaning on the guardrail next to a _motorcycle_. Nyx couldn’t keep back his impressed noise and interest in the bike as they got out of the car, the Marshal standing at their approach.

The Marshal didn’t bother with greetings, starting instead with an even, “Well? Do we press on, or spend the night?”

Nyx glanced over at Noct. He didn’t really have an opinion one way or another, so would be happy with whatever. The thoughtful expression on Noct’s face as he carefully shaped his words kept Nyx from being able to look away.

“I took another look at the map. The Vesperpool Haven is out of our way if we’re intending on entering the Myrlwood. It makes more sense for us to rest here, and then head straight for the Myrlwood once we’re through the blockade.”

Everyone waited a moment to see if someone would voice a different opinion, but no one spoke. “Well then,” Ignis said, “I suppose we might as well get settled in so that we can be up bright and early tomorrow.”

And so they did. The Haven was only a couple minutes’ walk from the road. Setting up happened quickly, with only a few shifts in positioning to fit the Marshal’s tent as well. Noct took the time to tell the Marshal, “I rented us all some chocobos. Given the Empire, it’s best to leave the car here, and given the giant lake, the chocobos seemed liked they would be faster anyways.”

Dinner that night was the last of the fish Noct had caught in Alstor Slough. Cor apparently knew about the Prince’s fishing habit and complimented him on the catches. In return, Noct enquired about Cor’s hunter contacts and how they had been established. (It turned out Cor the Immortal tended to rest up after skirmishes with the Empire by helping the local hunters with some of their bigger problems. _Totally_ relaxing hobby there.)

Soon, they were settling down for the night. The extra bedding they had bought gave them a little extra cushioning between their fragile bodies and the hard ground. Nyx also used the extra blankets to give himself a little more protection from the uninsulated walls of the tent.

Like Ignis had said, they rose bright and early the next morning. A quick breakfast was followed by packing up their campsite. Everyone checked their gear before they headed out, and there was a small debate of whether they were more concerned with disguising themselves or with extra protection.

Ultimately, they did want their assault on the Western tunnel to be connected with Lucian forces, so Noctis and his retinue wore their Lucian Black fatigues. Nyx switched out his new leather jacket with his damaged Kingsglaive jacket which was a more easily recognizable symbol.

When they climbed back up to the road, Noct took a moment to call for the chocobos they had rented. Once they arrived they sorted out who would be riding which, and then mounted up to head up the road to the tunnel to the Vesperpool.

The road past the Haven was surprisingly straight, rising gradually with the valley between the mountains. It ended abruptly at a gate. There would have been no twist in the road to park their vehicles behind, no dip to hide them in. The mountain rose sharply to their left, and the road passed into the hill without any pretenses.

Nyx eyed it carefully. He and Noct could easily warp onto the hill above the gate, but that wouldn’t help them in getting into the tunnel. They all approached carefully, examining the gate with an eye for weaknesses. Gladio had headed for one of sides, perhaps hoping to find some hinges. Prompto was poking at the seam where the two doors came together. Ignis was tapping at the metal, head cocked like he was listening intently.

There were frowns on everyone’s faces as they contemplated the gates. Finally, Nyx broke their silence, if only to try and get a plan started. “I could try and break the lock,” he offered, “they don’t exactly have a keyhole to pick, but it looks like there’s just enough of a gap to interact with the bolts directly.” It wasn’t exactly guaranteed, but it was what he had.

 “I believe,” Ignis offered from where he was still crouched next to the doors, “that we might be able to break through with magic—fire and ice specifically.”

The group was quiet for a minute, no one offering any other suggestions. Eventually, Cor sighed.

“Ignis, if you think we can get through the doors with elemancy, better to use that. We want to break their blockade, not simply slip through,” Cor declared. “If they can simply close the doors and lock them up behind us, we’ll have failed.”

After another moment examining the doors, Ignis gave a nod to himself and stood, adjusting his glasses as he spoke, “It sounds thick, but I believe it is still thin enough that by alternating fire and ice we can make it brittle enough to break through.”

Noct was already digging out the glowing balls that had shown up for the fight against Deadeye. He spent a few moments holding each between his hands before they began glowing either red or blue. Once they lit up, he passed them out.

There was a bit of debate about what to do once the doors opened. They all agreed that there was likely to be a blockade force, but whether it would be just beyond the gates and inside the tunnel, or on the other side of the tunnel, they were divided on. Finally, Prompto suggested that they ride the chocobos they had rented. “Wiz talked about how smart they are. When _or if_ we run into a fight, they’ll be smart enough to get themselves to safety, but they won’t go too far.”

“Sounds good to me,” Noct declared after a moment, and that was that.

With everyone armed and mounted up but for Gladio and Noctis, they took up positions some feet from the door in a curved line. “Right,” Ignis said, hefting his ice flask, “bombs away.”

Then the first flask hit the door, spreading ice through the metal. Two seconds after Ignis threw, the next flask was released, and two seconds after that, and two seconds after that… When the last flask had landed, Gladio let out a roar as he raced forward, broadsword swinging hard. Noct followed right behind him, using his back as a launch pad to come down on the door with a second broadsword.

With a mighty groan, the metal gave way, pieces shearing off as they gave up the fight. Path open, Nyx, Ignis, Prompto, and Cor spurred their chocobos forward as Gladio and Noct headed for their own birds. They didn’t run into the blockade force until they cleared the tunnel—a unit of MTs and a Veles armor that wouldn’t have fit inside the tunnel.

The enemies were already on alert, probably from the racket they had made breaking the gates. Prompto’s chocobo began to slow as the blond pulled out his gun, but Nyx and Ignis just leaned further over the back of their birds, urging them faster. As they approached, Nyx took the chance to evaluate the enemy group and formulate a couple of likely strategies his companions would use.

Moments later, they were in range. Still on chocobo-back, Nyx had already picked his target and was throwing his knife. It arced high above the MTs, their targeting programs trying to track it, before Nyx let the magic pull him into a warp and off his bird.

He burst back into existence just above the Veles, using his weight to drive the knife through one of the missile turrets. The move had the consequence of his continuing off the back of the armor, but Nyx was already tossing his second knife to the ground and letting himself fall into the warp.

Nyx rolled as he came out of the magic, the asphalt hard against his back, and he let his momentum carry him into a second roll, putting more distance between him and the Imperial forces. Clear for the moment, Nyx glanced back to check on his companions.

He was just in time to see Ignis launch himself off his chocobo with a backflip, landing among the MTs with his spear. Cor was several feet behind him, already on the ground, with Noct and Gladio just coming abreast of him.

Nyx could toss his knife again, start warp-spamming like he was famous for, but this wasn’t the frontlines. Their group wasn’t going to be pressed to desperate straits by this small force. Frankly, this was more like a training mission than a deployment, with a few high-level officers accompanying newbies in the field to get them some hands-on experience. The greatest struggle they would encounter here would likely be endurance.

So instead, Nyx reversed his grip on his knives from ‘toss’ to ‘slash’ and headed back towards the fray on foot.

The fight wasn’t particularly _hard_ , but it got tedious a few times, juggling the MTs and the Veles stomping around. Eventually Gladio and Ignis concentrated their attacks on the Veles to get it out of the way. Nyx did warp away once they brought it down, not wanting to get caught in the explosion. The boys weren’t so lucky, catching the edge of it, but they would learn in time. After that, it was only a few more minutes before all the MTs were down.

“Wonder if I’ll ever get the hang of all this fighting,” Prompto muttered while they caught their breath.

“Sure you will,” Gladio said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, “if you live long enough.”

“I wouldn’t count on that myself,” Ignis drawled, his sophisticated accent throwing even more shade than his tone did. Nyx had to turn his back to the three to hide his shit-eating grin, accidentally catching Noct’s eye. The amusement was infectious, as Noct grinned back at him.

After that levity, they hopped back on their birds and continued down the road in slightly less of a headlong rush.

Soon enough, a dirt road came up on their left and they departed the main road for it. At the point of its first switch-back, they left that road behind as well, heading into the woods on their chocobos. A couple minutes of passing through trees and over rock formations, they found a path and Noct began leading them down it. Eventually, it made a hard turn through a bottleneck of rock that had Nyx’s hair standing on end.

Thankfully for his nerves, the bottleneck only lasted an instant and then they were through, the ground widening into a large clearing. Just a little further was a natural tunnel in the rock formations through which Nyx could see vibrant greenery.

“This looks like our destination,” Cor announced, pulling his chocobo to a stop.

Prompto, always eager, asked, “How do you know?” even as he followed the Marshal’s lead and began dismounting.

Nyx snorted and steered his chocobo towards the tunnel. Just in front of it, it balked and refused to go any further. “There you go,” he said, letting his bird back away, “Chocobos always know where any dungeons are. Like Wiz told you, they’re too smart to willingly put themselves in danger.”

“Unlike humans. Instead, we choose to walk into a place we know full well can kill us.”

Nyx nearly choked on his laughter at the dry comment, swinging around to see the deadpan expression on Noct’s face. He had one foot on the ground and one foot still in the stirrup and had to hop awkwardly trying to keep his balance as he shook with laughter. After a moment Noct dropped his deadpan to shake his head at him, coming over to steady Nyx’s chocobo as she shuffled uncomfortably under him.

It took Nyx several long moments to stop laughing, finally burying his face in neck feathers to calm himself down. Once his shaking stopped, he lifted his head to flash a smile at Noctis. “Thanks,” he said, gently beginning to untangle himself from the chocobo.

Nyx glanced back up when he heard Prompto try to stifle a snort, curious. Noct had let his chocobo go once he indicated he was good, and had backed away a couple feet, looking at towards the Myrlwood. Nyx glanced at Prompto, but the blond was definitely looking at Noct.

Nyx peered again at Noctis, trying to figure out what the joke was, noting the redness on his cheeks. Finally, he shrugged it off once he was free of his chocobo, figuring he must have missed whatever it was.

Once they had all tended to their chocobos as needed, they assembled in front of the entrance to the Myrlwood. “Well. Let’s take a look around,” said Noct, leading them inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, poor Noct, his friends are so quick to laugh at him. Nyx doesn't get it.


	19. The Dungeons

“Wow! This place is a jungle,” Prompto exclaimed, admiring the greenery.

“Abundant in not only flora, but fauna as well,” Ignis said pointedly.

“You really think we’ll find a royal tomb in these old backwoods,” Prompto asked a couple minutes later.

“That’s what the hunters said,” replied Cor.

A little further they encountered their first taste of the local fauna, a Mushussu. “Shields and polearms,” Noct called a moment after spotting it. Ignis and Gladio took point, darting forward in a coordinated attack with the weapons he had mentioned.

Not having any weapons other than his knives, Nyx hung back, observing the two attacking. They worked well together, always knowing where the other was and not getting in each other’s way. They even managed a couple linked attacks, with Gladio helping Ignis into the air to come down on top of the monster.

Once the Mushussu was down, they headed further into the Myrlwood. The stone walls eventually fell away in favor of a heavily overgrown basin. They moved cautiously through the area. The limited visibility and thick undergrowth forced them to spread out in more of a fan formation than a group.

Not entirely sure where they wanted to go, they kept the “wall” of the basin in sight on their right. They encountered another Mushussu, which went down a little quicker this time, before they caught sight of another “wall” in front of them. Noct practically threw up his hands in frustration, and turned directly left, clutching a hand to his head with a groan as he did so. The sudden change in direction had some of the others scrambling to keep up.

They had barely fallen back in line when they stumbled out of some bushes onto a Mandrake. Noct spent only a moment eyeing it before he announced, “Swords and guns,” and then he began laying into the thing with large sweeps of his sword.

Noct’s grumpiness seemed to abate after the fight, and just a few minutes later they stumbled on a passage through the rocks that led _away_ from the basin. They encountered two groups of mandrakes and mushussus fighting each other, but they beat their way through them without serious injury.

When the path split, Noct paused. “Anyone have an opinion on which way we should go?”

“The left path seems rather bright. How about we go that way first,” Ignis suggested.

They did so. After just enough of a turn in the path to hide it from where they had stopped, they stumbled out upon a small waterfall and lake. “Finally, a little breathing room,” Gladio commented, looking around.

“It’s a Haven,” Prompto exclaimed from behind Nyx. He spun around from where he had been incredulously examining the fishing pier, and indeed, there was a Haven. It had been tucked away on the left of the passage, and Nyx hadn’t noticed it since he was on their right flank.

“Man, Noct, this is like, the perfect place for you,” Prompto chattered. “This is probably the shortest distance in all of Eos between a bed and a fishing spot.

“Yeah,” Noct said, voice wistful. When Nyx glanced at him there was a tiny smile playing about his lips. “Maybe someday I’ll retire here.”

“Alright, Princess,” Gladio said, coming up to clap a hand on Noct’s shoulder, “but no fishing today. Don’t want to force the Marshal to wait around for you, do you?”

Noct ducked the hand, pushing Gladio away with a snort. “We’ve barely gotten started. I’m not going to take a break at full strength when we haven’t even finished the dungeon yet.”

So saying, Noct darted back towards the path. Nyx felt a startled “shit” slip past his lips as he hurried to keep the prince in his sights. Noct _did_ in fact stop to wait for them where the paths intersected, and then they were moving, again down the left passage. It began sloping upwards with twists and turns, and they encountered another pack on monsters near the top of it.

Once they had dealt with them, Noct made an interested sound and set off towards an opening on the left. Nyx followed, and had just realized it was the lip of a drop when Noct bent down, digging in the dirt for something. He came up brushing off a metal circlet.

“Huh,” Nyx said, peering at it. “Is that a bangle?”

“Looks like,” Noct replied. “Someone must have lost it.” Noct stared at it for a moment before muttering something under his breath that sounded like, _hope there’s no tags around here_ , which Nyx didn’t understand at all, before turning back towards the group. “Hey Prompto, you want another bracelet,” he called.

“Sure,” Prompto said, bounding over from where he had been checking his gun. “What’s this one do then?”

“Force redirection magic,” Noct told him, handing it over. “Gold is one of the best metals to bind magic to, but it’s so soft that they had to reinforce it to stand up in a fight. It was too complicated to mass produce, so they only make them for the hunters.”

“Cool,” Prompto said, and the golden bangle joined the many other bracelets wrapped around his left wrist. “Will this one still work if I blunt it?”

“Go ahead,” Noct told him with a little wave. “As long as the face is clear the magic will still work, like always.”

Curious, Nyx raked a look over the other bracelets on Prompto’s arm, slowly realizing the chaotic mess had a lot of glinting to it. Bronze, silver, black, even a peek of blue… _Bangles_ , Nyx realized. Prompto’s wrist was covered in a small fortune of bangles. Nyx blinked and looked closer, wondering why they weren’t making a racket, and finally noticed the non-standard subdued rubber edges on each of them.

Nyx had the sudden urge to reach out and touch them, but managed to turn it into a gesture instead. “You do all that work yourself?”

“Yep! Bracelets are kinda’ my thing, but don’t want them to become a problem in the field. So I made them quiet!”

“Smart,” Nyx told him with a nod. “Is that how you can manage so many at once?”

“Yea, turns out, there’s a difference between stacking and _stacking._ Stacking them like normal, with the edges touching? The magics bleed into each other or something, and they start doing _wacky_ things. But _stacking?_ With the edges covered, I can _stack_ as many bracelets and their effects as I have room for.”

Prompto turned back towards the path, taking a last glance at his new bangle. “I’ll probably start working on this one when we camp tonight.”

Noct thankfully followed Prompto back to the path and away from the sudden drop. The path was a pretty short downward trail coming out in another basin-like area, this time including a trench of standing water. Glancing back at the hill they had come down, Nyx spotted the place they had just been standing. Now on the ground, he could see it wasn’t as high as he had worried, and the hill was quite free of erosion and undercutting.

“There’s something over there, past the trees,” Gladio said with a sweep of his arm.

“Be cautious,” Cor said before the group could move. “The magic of the tombs often attracts greater monsters to the area. There could well be one here.”

The group stood at the bottom of the trail for a minute, straining their eyes for any sign of a monster. Finally, Prompto broke the silence. “I don’t see anything but trees.”

Gladio snorted. “Not like they’re gonna’ come alive and attack us, blondie,” he drawled before starting forward.

They made it to the trench of water when suddenly one of the trees moved.

“Treant,” Nyx yelled, leaping aside as he drew his knives.

Noct’s voice was frustrated as he drew his sword, “You just _had_ to tempt the Six, Gladio, didn’t you? Of _course_ it’s a fuckin’ tree.”

A glow back towards the path caught Nyx’s eye, and he darted a glance over to see Ignis hanging back, shining golden as he cast some kind of spell. As the glow faded, Nyx suddenly could feel a tag of magic, dangling politely in his mind. He readily reached out to receive it and when it unfolded, he found knowledge of the Treant’s weaknesses along with an impression of its healthiness and stamina.

 _Useful for when you’ve never encountered a creature before,_ Nyx thought, letting the spell-knowledge slot into place with his own experience. Deciding they had been on their back foot long enough, Nyx tossed his knife at the rampaging Treant’s tail and fell into a warp.

He came out just as the knife connected, putting his entire weight behind the blow. There was a great snap, and the tree bellowed in pain, spinning around to slash at him. Nyx was already warping back out of range.

He reappeared in a flash of blue sparks, steadying himself for a moment. Just as it had looked, the tail had felt like all muscle. Letting it flail around would have dangerous, and—

Nyx had to cut off his train of thought and block. It seemed the treant had managed to keep track of him, a true rarity. Nyx was just barely managing to block its blows, wincing at the force. _The bloody thing hit nearly as hard as Glauca!_

A sudden, strange revving noise caught Nyx’s ear, just before some kind of blast hit the treant with a ‘boom!’ The creature screeched, spinning around towards its new aggressor, and Nyx caught a flash of blond hair. Another blow from a different direction split the thing’s attention.

With the pressure off him, Nyx took a moment to breathe before leaping on the treant’s back. He caught flashes of others attacking its front: Gladio, winding up for a sweeping swing; Noct, blade glowing red as he leapt high into the air; Cor as he unsheathed his sword in one blindingly fast blow; Ignis to the side, blades also glowing red.

In barely any time, the treant was falling to the ground with a whimper.

They all fell back from the thing’s body, taking a moment to steady themselves and slow their pounding hearts. Nyx found himself having a particularly hard time getting his breath back, reaching up to rub at the ache in his chest. _What’s wrong with me? I should be barely winded, if at all,_ he wondered. He’d certainly fought fiercer foes when pitting himself against the Empire, and hadn’t had such problems then.

Nyx hadn’t quite managed to recover his breathing entirely by the time everyone else was starting to move cautiously through the little glade again. Still rubbing at his chest, he followed.

The flash of white Gladio had spotted through the trees did indeed turn out to be a Royal Tomb. Nyx was still rubbing at his chest as it came into sight, but he definitely noticed as Noct’s Retinue rearranged their formation, automatically covering their holes until they finally settled.

Nyx found himself walking beside Noct as they covered the last fifty feet to the tomb, and glanced sidelong at the man. And frowned in concern. The closer they got, the more emotion seemed to leech out of Noct’s face, leaving him with an expressionless mask.

“Here, too, rests the power of Kings,” Ignis murmured from his flanking position. “Who knows how many tombs have survived the ages.” They reached the stairs leading down to the tomb’s door as Ignis finished speaking.

Nyx followed Noct down the stairs, getting more and more concerned as he took in the stiffness of his movements. Even as he took out the key and unlocked the door, Noct’s face was remote. The complete lack of expression as the doors slowly ground open had Nyx inching closer and closer to him.

He was two steps behind Noct as he entered the tomb and stopped in front of the pedestal holding the casket and bas relief. For several long moments, Noct stood there, hand fisted by his side. Eventually he lifted a hand to rub at his forehead, hissing a breath between his teeth. His hand stopped, still on his face, and Nyx could trace the passage of tension as it spread over Noct’s back and hunched his shoulders.

Forcibly discarding anything that wasn’t support for his Prince, Nyx stepped closer, placing a gentle hand between Noct’s shoulder blades. Nyx had just a moment to register the warmth radiating through his hand before Noct heaved a shuddering sigh. He leaned back into Nyx’s touch for a moment before he dropped his arm. As Noct straightened, he moved further back into Nyx’s support, and Nyx shuffled a half-step forward in return to stay in reach.

“Guess I better get on with it,” Noct muttered almost below Nyx’s hearing. Looking away from the Prince for a moment, Nyx glanced at the pedestal, expecting another unfamiliar weapon.

“Oh,” the word slipped from his lips without his permission as Noct held his hand over the pedestal and the Star of the Rogue began glowing. Noct was suddenly backing up into Nyx, and he scrambled to follow the movement so they wouldn’t fall over. Noct stopped quickly, and Nyx caught his balance with soft, soft hair brushing his cheek.

Before he could scramble away in embarrassment, the star came down and Noct flinched back into Nyx. Once again, no sensation of impact communicated itself to him, and with a crystalline tinkle, the Royal Arms burst from Noct to circle around them. The Star was glowing blue as it spun past Nyx, and he shivered slightly as he remembered the power of that weapon plowing through Imperial drop ships and cruisers.

Nyx’s attention came back to Noct as he felt him take a long shuddering breath, Armiger fading to crystal shards. Nyx waited, patient, even with the sweet torture of hair brushing his cheek, for Noct to move away on his own.

Instead, he spoke. “What was it?”

“Hmm?”

“Something surprised you. What was it?” Noct turned his head slightly, and Nyx got a nose-full of clean, dry scent.

“Oh.” It took Nyx a moment to remember what Noct might be talking about. “That was the Star of the Rogue, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Just, recognized it. From when it was the size of a city bus and being flung around by the Old Wall.”

There was a moment of silence, and finally Noct moved, looking up to meet Nyx’s eyes. “Huh. Must be weird seeing it a normal size then.”

Nyx moved back, opening up space for Noct to leave the Tomb without having to go around him. “Just surprised to actually recognize one of the Royal Arms. It’s not many that you get to see in action.”

Noct hesitated another moment, opening his mouth like he was going to say something, but then he shut it. For a moment there was something fragile in his face, but it vanished, and Nyx almost questioned whether it had truly been there as Noct headed for the door.

Nyx glanced around as they came out of the Royal Tomb, slightly surprised no one else had gone inside with them. Ignis and Gladio were standing near the door, and on the grass at the top of the steps stood Prompto and the Marshal.

Nyx found himself being given a surprisingly appraising gaze by the Marshal. _Wonder what that’s about,_ Nyx thought, tilting his head slightly to meet the Marshal’s eyes. Prompto was leaning into the man, practically vibrating, and Nyx raised an eyebrow internally at the behavior.

“Well,” Ignis spoke, and Nyx forcibly dragged his attention to the man, “back to the chocobos, then?”

The trek back out of the Myrlwood was, thankfully, without incident. They found the chocobos waiting where they had left them, Prompto quickly running up to his bird to shower them in affection and praise. Ignis pulled their map out and a traced a path from the Myrlwood to the point Cor had mentioned had a parking spot. Destination chosen, they headed out.

They took the path down away from the Myrlwood, but then departed it to head for the lakeshore. One last check of the map, and Ignis led them into the water, pointing the chocobos towards a jut of land just barely visible in the distance.

It took maybe half an hour to make their way across the lake and back to land, climbing out at one of the few vaguely sandy areas on the shore. Ignis consulted the map again, and led them slightly to the left, where they eventually came out of the trees at a parking lot. There was even, surprises of surprises, a chocobo rental station. Just across the road was a Haven.

They all took the chance to dismount and stretch after the ride across the lake where they most emphatically _could not_. As they did, Ignis gestured towards the Haven. “Perhaps we should make camp and leave the next dungeon for tomorrow,” he suggested. “It’s almost four o’clock.”

Noct, somewhere on the other side of Nyx’s chocobo, made a sound of protest that cut-off abruptly. No one else seemed to have heard it, and when Noct gave no other signs of disagreement, Nyx let it go.


	20. Hurry Up and Wait

The group made their way to the Haven, setting up camp quickly. It was still a little early for dinner, so Ignis sat down around the firepit with the rest of them.

Prompto was humming a fierce little tune as he rummaged his phone out of his pocket. Once he had it in hand, he turned a devious smile on Nyx. “Ny~yx,” he sing-songed, “you have a phone now, so it’s time we introduced you to the wonders of King’s Knight.”

Nyx made a face at the blond, but didn’t bother trying to fight. Prompto had already beaten him back in Lestallum, and there would be no escape out here in the wilderness. Gingerly, he rummaged his own phone out of a pocket, inspecting it to make sure it hadn’t gotten damaged in any of their battles before turning it on.

There followed an entertaining hour of Prompto directing him in how to download the game and set up an account, and then demonstrating how it was played. Without giving Nyx a chance to protest, Prompto guided him into a practice joint campaign with the blond. Prompto declared him “good enough” when they had finished, and then immediately invited him into a joint campaign with the entire Royal Retinue; minus the Marshal, who had shaken his head at them and now appeared to be networking on his own phone.

The game stretched into four campaigns. Nyx consistently came in last due to his newness to the game and teams made up of mostly 3-star characters. The others, having been playing for a while, fielded only 4- and 5-star characters. Still, Nyx did eventually relax into the game, managing to enjoy the simplicity of the battle mechanics.

After four campaigns, Ignis got up to start on dinner. That seemed to be the signal for everyone to put away their phones and work on weapons maintenance for a bit. It was quiet as they all descended into close concentration on various aspects of their weapons.

Nyx only had his knives, and while he pulled out a sharpening stone to make sure their edge hadn’t gotten dull, he was rather distracted. Every couple minutes, he stopped the repetitive motion of sharpening to rub at his chest. Despite the hours since the Myrlwood, Nyx still felt a tiny bit out of breath; it was like something was sitting on his chest, keeping him from completely filling his lungs.

(It did happen, sometimes. Twisting the wrong way would pull something just enough out of alignment that his chest would ache for hours until it relaxed back into place.

Still, this… didn’t quite feel like that.)

The sensation lasted the rest of the night, through dinner and chatting and as they crawled into the tent. Despite his worries, Nyx made a point of stretching as he crawled into the blankets, trying to open up his chest and release whatever muscle was restricting his breathing.

They rose bright and early the next morning. Thankfully, a good night’s sleep seemed to have relieved whatever Nyx’s problem had been, and he was breathing easily again. Ignis made them a hot breakfast that morning, something Nyx hadn’t seen him do before at a Haven.

“What brought this on,” he asked curiously as he accepted the bowl.

“Noct requested something hot for breakfast last night,” Ignis explained as he sat down in his own chair. “We’re not in such a hurry that we can’t afford the time for it, so I agreed.”

They broke camp quickly after breakfast, vacating the Haven by mid-morning. As they headed off the rock, Prompto spoke up, voice bright. “Chocobos again?”

“I was actually thinking we should walk,” Noct replied. “We don’t know exactly where the next dungeon is on the map, and there’s no clue like a heavily wooded area to aim for. It would be too easy to miss on a chocobo.”

“Aww~,” Prompto said, and Nyx glanced over in time to see the pout on his face. He couldn’t help smiling at Prompto’s whole-hearted adoration of chocobos.

“Hey, we still have them rented for five more nights, Prompto,” Nyx told him.

Prompto continued pouting. “I suppose.”

They had picked up a trail out of the parking lot, and were following it through the squat palm trees and occasional outcroppings of stone. After maybe fifteen minutes, the vegetation fell away on their right to reveal a rocky plateau. The path curved, skirting the edge of the rock before leading away.

Noct pulled his map out, taking a single glance at it and nodding to himself. “Looks like we’re going right,” he said, and led them up off the path, onto the stone.

The plateau was made of waves of rock that they had to constantly go around or climb over. What made their journey even longer was Noct’s apparently very sharp eye, as he bent over every other minute to scoop up one thing or another. From a monster claw to feathers to a glass bauble, Noct seemed determined to grab everything that might be sellable or useful for upgrading their equipment in the future.

Eventually they made it to where the rock gave way to dirt and vegetation again. There they encountered a basilisk and some chickatrice that apparently took offense to them. They were easily defeated, but during the battle Ignis had apparently caught sight of an ingredient he wanted to harvest. Nyx wasn’t sure foraging for wild ingredients was the _best_ thing for the royal retinue to do, but he wasn’t going to tell Ignis he _couldn’t_ do it.

Their time among the vegetation didn’t last long however, and they were soon wading into the water. Nyx was grateful for his tall boots, and carefully didn’t wonder about any of the others’ footwear. The area was filled with old ruins; collapsed arches and leaning columns liberally dotted the swamp.

Noct wove between them without any apparent rhyme or reason. He traipsed in and out of the water, up and down the small hills of land, and still kept an eye out for things to scavenge. His diligence even managed to find an abandoned Ether caught in a crack of one of the ruins.

It was just past noon by the time Ignis caught sight of a stone wall standing tall and unruined in the distance. “Might that not be our destination?” he suggested, tone arch.

Noct seemed almost reluctant as he said, “It might be,” but began leading them that way.

As they got closer to the structure, it became apparent that they weren’t the only ones interested in it. Nyx noted a stack of crates on one of the hills, and as they came abreast of it, he spotted another one, this one with a few people around it and a figure lounging atop it.

They were noticed almost immediately, the lounging figure climbing slowly to their feet. “Well, well, what do we have here?” they drawled, and Nyx realized belatedly that they were a woman. “If it isn’t a Kingsglaive, a couple Crownsguard, and The Immortal himself. I wonder what such a group could be doing here.”

She had heavily stylized armor covering her shoulders, paired with a black and red leather ensemble, partially covered by a white tabard. Coupled with what he realized was a helmet with a horn and a long black tail sitting on the crate at her feet, Nyx tentatively identified her as Commodore Aranea Highwind, the “Dragoon” of Niflheim.

He ground his teeth together. Of course there had been a chance of them encountering whatever Imperials had been occupying the Vesperpool, but they hadn’t thought they would be interested in the same place they were. _More fool us then,_ Nyx thought bitterly, _at least she doesn’t recognize the Prince._

“Cat got your tongue? That’s all right,” she purred, hopping down off the crate and prowling towards them, “I can take a guess.”

The Marshal chose to speak then, playing into her assumption that he was the only person of note in their group. “Some contacts indicated there was a dungeon in the area. Is that true?”

Highwind stopped right in front of the Marshal, putting her hands on her hips and leaning in to look him up and down in a lingering manner. “It might be. But it might also be that the Empire has their own interest in it. Why should I allow you to access it?”

“It may be that we don’t want to access it. If you’ve been in there you can tell us; is there a locked door in its depths?”

She eyed Cor for a long minute, not saying anything. Finally, she straightened. “There is indeed. But if you want us to show it to you, I’m afraid we’re on break.” She eyed him for another moment before purring, “You’re welcome to join us.”

Nyx threw a glance at his companions, wondering if they were seeing the same thing he was seeing. Gladio’s shit-eating grin and Prompto’s wide eyes suggested they were. Highwind was… _flirting_ with the Marshal.

Ignis spoke into the charged silence Highwind had created, “We wouldn’t want to impose. I’m sure we’ll be able to find our own way if you agree to let us pass.”

Highwind’s lips curled in a strange kind of satisfaction and she waved an expansive hand at their surroundings as she turned around and headed back towards her crate. “Search until sundown if you like. It won’t do you any good.” She plopped back down into her seat, projecting an air of smug disinterest. “If you’re lookin’ to get inside, you’re gonna’ have to wait.”

Despite her condescension, Ignis gave her a little tilt of his head and murmured, “Thank you.”

Cautiously, they headed past the small group of Imperials to the arch set into the ancient wall. Nyx could feel her gaze on them the whole way and had the strange sense that his butt—despite being hidden under his jacket—was being thoroughly violated.

As they passed through the archway Nyx could feel the ground under his feet change. It was still under about a foot of water, but he was now walking over a stone floor. The area they were in now had fared better than the ruins they had seen before, being somewhat shielded from the elements by the wall. The columns that marched forward like a causeway stood straight and tall despite their weathering.

They spent a moment just looking around, all of them appreciating the well-preserved beauty of their surroundings. Prompto commented wonderingly, “What kind of place was this? Any idea, Ignis?”

“None,” Ignis answered, voice soft with his own distraction.

“I wonder what happened to the locals,” Prompto mused, and Nyx for once found himself agreeing. It was surprising the place had ever been abandoned.

Gladio was the first to get over moment, unable to resist the chance to needle Prompto. “Why don’t we head in and see if they’re still around?”

Nyx groaned in stereo with Prompto and Noct. “Bad taste, Gladio, bad taste,” Noct complained.

Reminded that they were here for more than just the architecture, they continued on. As the focus of the… courtyard? room? was on the stairs rising at the back, they headed towards them. There was a fair-sized landing at their top, and opposite the stairs was the most well-preserved wall they’d seen so far. It had stone protrusions that formed a distinct doorway—

Around another bit of wall.

“Well. It looks like we won’t be getting anywhere from here,” Ignis observed in a dry tone.

They went back down the stairs and split up to explore every nook and cranny of the courtyard area. Eventually, they gathered at the arch that marked the entrance. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto all looked frustrated, and even Cor had a furrow in his brow. Only Noct looked at all calm about not finding an entrance.

“I’m not seein’ a way in,” Gladio said with a grimace.

Ignis’ frown turned thoughtful and he slowly said, “Not at this time of day, at least.”

Prompto managed a joking, “There’s a way in. I can smell it.”

“The empire sniffed it out ages ago,” a voice intruded on their conversation and they jumped, Nyx only belatedly remembering that Highwind had been watching them. “Wait ‘til nightfall, shortcake.”

It was just a little awkward, turning to look at the group of Imperials now. They were still cooling their heels around the same crate, the Commodore and two junior officers. From the corner of his eye, Nyx saw Gladio glaring at them a moment before he spoke. “So you guys just laze around all day, huh?”

“Yep,” Highwind smirked. “Play all day, work all night. A girl’s gotta have a little variety in her schedule. And I’ll say it again, you boys are welcome to join us. Even you, muscle man.”

There was a distrustful silence that stretched awkwardly. Noct, hidden at the back of the group, eventually gave a sigh and stalked forwards. “If it’s all the same to you guys, I’d rather sit down while we wait.”

Gladio and Ignis both made a grab for the Prince, but Noct nimbly avoided their fingers. Ignis made a _kk!_ sound but followed warily in his wake anyways. As they all started moving, Nyx had a singular chant in his head that he was sure was echoed by everyone else: _Don’t say his name. Don’t say his name. Don’t say his name!_

They managed to find dry and marginally comfortable places to sit, choosing to settle on the other hill that housed crates rather than Highwind’s. Noct even laid down completely, pretending he was going to sleep, but no one was quite able to relax. Finally, desperately, Nyx pulled his new phone out and turned to Prompto. “Show me how that game works again. I forgot,” he lied, desperate for anything to break the tension. The smile he got in response said Prompto was just as grateful for the distraction.

And so they managed to pass the next few hours. Five o’clock came and went. Ignis apparently decided using the Arsenal wouldn’t be revealing too much because he summoned and passed out sandwiches. It was half past seven when Highwind gave up trying to flirt with the Marshal and stood on her crate.

“Alright boys, the sun will be setting soon,” she said, stretching provocatively. “You better get yourselves ready, ‘cause I won’t be waiting around for you.”

“Lady Highwind, truly, there’s no need,” Ignis interjected smoothly even as they all rose cautiously to their feet. “I’m sure you have more important things to be doing. We will be fine on our own.”

“That’s cute, specs, but there’s no way I’m about to let the Marshal go unwatched somewhere the Empire has declared a _strategic location.”_ She propped a hand on her hip as she continued, “Not even my loose interpretations of orders stretches that far.”

Hidden from Highwind’s view behind Gladio’s back, Noct turned to fix a look on Cor. Nyx carefully kept his face blank and his eyes straight ahead. As Ignis tried to convince the Commodore that really, she didn’t need to come with them, Noct made faces at the Marshal. The man just stared back at his prince, face set in a deadpan.

A couple minute of this passed, Ignis’ arguments in the background and some kind of conversation passing between Cor’s deadpan and Noct’s expressions. Finally, Cor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before saying, “Commodore Highwind, would you be interested in a spar?”

The glee that kindled on Highwind’s face was near-incandescent in intensity. Her purred, “Oh Marshal, I would _love_ one,” was just as suggestive as might be expected after the hours she’d spent flirting.

“Where do you want me?”

 _Man, when the Marshal commits to something, he really goes_ all out _,_ Nyx thought as the innuendo sank in. Highwind’s lips curled into a hungry little grin that Nyx instantly wished he could forget as she hopped down from her perch on the crate. “Right this way, Marshal,” she said with a little curl of her finger, “right this way.”

They watched Cor and Highwind trek away through the swamp, off for a wide, open area to spar in. An awkward and chagrined moment passed between the Lucians and the two Imperial soldiers. Prompto gave a little giggle.

Eventually, Noct cleared his throat. “Let’s go wait by that door.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's all the stalling for Noct?


	21. Steyliff Grove

Nyx leaned against the wall as they waited the last few minutes for the sun to set. Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio were talking quietly about something near the stairs; Noct leaned against one of the pillars framing the doorway, looking at something on his phone. Nyx watched him, tracing the fall of hair against his cheek, the way his eyes shone, and the line of his nose.

Prompto laughed, and Nyx realized abruptly he had been staring. He quickly turned his head away, gazing at the carvings on the wall instead. After a moment, Nyx noticed that parts of the carvings were actually a different color, only obvious as the light faded, forming lines that traveled upwards. As the twilight set in, the lines began to look red. Nyx leaned in to take a closer look at them and realized they actually had a subtle glow to them, ever more apparent as the sky darkened.

There was a soft whirring sound that pulled Nyx’s attention away from the carvings, and Noct pushed off his bit of wall and put his phone away. “Door’s open, guys,” he announced. “Let’s head in.”

There was a small room just beyond the doorway, but then there were stairs. Seemingly endless stairs. Stairs that went on. And on. And on. When they finally saw the bottom, Prompto let out a dramatically relieved, “Finally. I thought it’d never end.” At the bottom of the staircase was another room with, curiously enough, lights in the corners.

They cautiously began to explore the ruins. The first couple rooms they explored seemed okay, if weirdly barren for how well-preserved the place was. Ignis amazingly spotted a Megalixir in one of the rooms, but when he went to grab it part of the roof fell down. Nyx winced at such a valuable item getting crushed, but there was nothing they could do.

Just a little deeper, they discovered a door. It was gigantic, made of black metal with golden rays radiating out from a point nearer to the top than to them. “Solheim,” Ignis murmured, nearly inaudible. They might have lingered longer looking at the door, but as soon as someone approached it quietly retracted itself upwards. Any disappointment vanished immediately at the view beyond the door.

“Beautiful beyond words…” Ignis gasped, obviously moved.

And indeed it was. They were apparently on the uppermost level of the complex, standing on a balcony. There was a great cavern stretching out in front of them lit by a blue light and going down, down, down…

“Look up!”

Nyx followed Prompto’s instructions and blinked at the undulating sheet of blue above the cavern. “Is that… the water?” Gladio asked, and suddenly Nyx could see it.

“Wait, what?” Prompto made an agitated motion that Nyx barely registered, still staring. “Does this mean we’re underwater? Woah. There’s even fish.”

Noct voice was strained as he asked, “Where are you seeing fish?” Nyx glanced over at the tone, checking he was okay. Prompto had moved over and was pointing at the fish he had found.

Ignis was still occupied with puzzling over the spectacle. “Can we truly be submerged?”

Nyx hummed thoughtfully, gazing upwards again. “It does seem harder to breath down here.”

They continued staring upwards for a minute until Gladio broke them all out of their trance. “Let’s get a move on.”

Nyx shook himself a little as he looked down. He took a moment to put away his wonder and focus back on their task. As he did, Noct brushed past him to take the lead again, and Nyx just barely caught him muttering, “Like seeing a dream of that place.” Puzzled, trying to work out what he might have meant, Nyx followed in Noct’s wake. He couldn’t be entirely sure, but it seemed like Noct pointedly avoided looking up at the water the rest of their time underground.

Just beyond a bit of balcony that jutted out into the cavern without a roof, the floor had collapsed. They were able to cross the pit by edging along a small ledge still attached to the wall. Prompto hadn’t been too keen on it, but they all crossed it. Further on the floor gave way again, this time without anything they could use to get across. Luckily, there was a staircase, and they proceeded downwards.

The staircase had let them out on a balcony identical to the one above it, and they had retraced their steps to find a second staircase positioned under where the door had been. The third level again had a balcony, but where there had been stairs at the far end of the first level, here there was another door that again slid quietly away and let them inside, where they found a set of two-story rooms.

They had arrived on the upper level, made mostly of floating bridges. Everything looked fine at first glance, but as they reached the center of the room it seemed just their presence was enough to make one of the bridges collapse. Leery, they inched along the still standing bridge into a second two-story room that had a staircase leading downwards.

“At least we know there’s a way to get back up if one of these collapses underneath us,” Nyx offered.

The third room was much the same in structure as the first; one of the bridges even collapsed just from their walking by. When they tried to leave the room however, an Iron Giant appeared. Its weight was more than enough to destroy the bridge, and Noct and Gladio both fell into the room below. Given the drop, Ignis and Prompto both chose to jump on the daemon rather than straight down, while Nyx warped down to check how bad the fall had been.

Strangely enough, once they had defeated the giant daemon, the rubble from the bridges had floated upwards, reforming into whole stone once more. They had to open another of the Solheim doors to find a staircase back upwards, but as they walked the floating bridges of the third room again, there wasn’t so much as a rumble or a trickling of dust to suggest they were unsound.

Then it was around a corner, through a room, down a staircase, and they were on a bridge that spanned from one side of the cavern to the other. Far above their heads the lake surface hovered, soft moonlight filtering through its gentle rolling and glittering reflections from the lights below.

It was then that everything went wrong.

Well, more wrong. Very early on in their advance through the dungeon, only a couple of battles in, Prompto had gone down. The blond had dropped without a sound, and as fast as Nyx had understood what had happened, Noct had appeared in a flash of blue. He had dropped to his knees and shoved a Phoenix Down in Prompto’s lax hand before laying into the daemon that had felled him.

That had been the point where Noct stopped hanging back. Instead of keeping to the edges and managing the battles enough to keep his Retinue from being overwhelmed, he began taking a very active part in combating the Crème Brulees and Reapers that kept appearing.

And now they were here, facing more enemies at once than they had yet been forced to. Nyx was trying to keep all the skeletons focused on him, warping just short of a daemon and taking a swipe at its sword “arm” before moving onto the next. That left the other four to focus on the more troublesome enemies without having to constantly guard their backs.

From the bit of attention he was able to spare them, Noct wasn’t warp-spamming like him. Instead he would concentrate fiercely on one opponent for a few moments, before another daemon made to advance on one of his friends, at which point he would switch targets to them.

The skeletons Nyx was fighting were slowly losing their sword “arms” after a couple hits when Nyx’s eyes, in the middle of falling into a warp, passed over a hulking figure at the other end of the bridge, near where the other four were fighting. Horrified, he thought, _Is that a Ronin?!_

The surprise cost him, as he stumbled falling out of the warp and had to spend a few moments completely dispatching the skeleton that had latched onto him. Nyx was turning, meaning to shout a warning, when he heard Ignis’ normally level voice scream, “NOCT!!”

Nyx had only a moment of seeing Noct held aloft on the Ronin’s sword before it gave a negligent _flick_ and—

Pain.

Nyx was barely aware of his body collapsing, everything was pain. There might have been voices. There might have been blows as skeletons landed on him. Nyx didn’t know. All he knew was—

There was a ball of fire in his chest, and it wanted to consume him.

A scream ripped itself from his throat.

The fire, the seed of fire that Nyx had somehow _forgotten_ about was raging free. The light that had filled his chest since Insomnia’s Fall had vanished and there was nothing to keep the Lucii’s burning magic in check.

The ground heaved before Nyx’s chest cooled just long enough for him to drag in a breath. In the next moment the fire was back, and another scream burst from his throat.

He spent a small eternity, hovering in that pain, before something flushed through his body, knocking out all the tendrils of fire that had crept out of that place in his chest. The shock choked Nyx’s voice in his throat and he gasped.

And gasped again, and again, and again, as the fire burning behind his sternum seemed to pulse angrily. It was hard to move his chest, to get oxygen, but he struggled anyways, mind clear enough for the moment to _think_ , scrambling for something that might help.

What was it that King Regis had said? … _you have been granted reprieve._ The rest had been something like… _The King of Light holds back your price. His life your life, his death yours, so you shall perish at the dawn. Our Bargain is over. Your death here has been denied by the King of Light, but your life is still forfeit, belonging now to the King of…_

“—ight,” Nyx gasped, or tried to, the word barely making it past his lips. Nyx tried again, trying to form the words, his plea to the Lucii, to whoever they had been talking about. “K-ng of -ight,” he whispered in beseechment, the pain in his chest growing again. _Not good enough._ Once more he tried, reaching up to claw at the heat in his chest. This time he managed a clear, “light.”

And then a sound was being wrenched from him again, too weak to call a scream, but no other descriptor could fit the way it tore at his throat. Nyx could feel his eyes tearing up, trying to get some of his pain _out,_ and his throat convulsed in a sob.

Suddenly, there were hands on him, hands that _blazed_ to his scrambled senses. Something happened at his waist, and Nyx gasped when he felt a hand press against that spot on his chest, skin against skin. Even though it continued to burn, it steadied something in him. The tiny bit of relief was almost enough to wash away the sensation of his body being moved until there was a bare hand against the skin of his neck, and more skin being pressed to his forehead.

There were words being breathed against his lips, blazing as they broke against his skin, and Nyx struggled fruitlessly to hear them. They felt like a declaration, like something important.

Just as they finished, the hand pressed against Nyx’s chest _sank_ into him, grabbing the ball of fire and quenching it ruthlessly. Nyx gasped and writhed against the sensation, trying to both curl his body around it and get away from it. After a minute he began gagging intermittently, the feel of something practically _inside his lungs_ making his body think it had to get it out.

Under that unrelenting grip, the fire began to shrink. Bits of it sputtered and died, other bits flared, trying to escape, but the light was inescapable. Finally, after what Nyx knew had to be only minutes but felt like much longer, the fire had been compressed into a tiny seed that Nyx vaguely thought he had felt in Insomnia.

What wasn’t familiar was the light that seemed to blaze through every corner of his body.

Nyx spent a minute laying quietly, basking in the painless grasp of who- or _what-_ ever held him. Only when he felt like his nerves had calmed down and relaxed completely did he finally fight his eyes open.

He met a blue gaze bare inches from his own. There was a relieved sigh, those blue eyes slipping closed for a moment. The hand on his chest shook free of what Nyx suddenly realized was a rucked-up shirt and came around to cradle the side of his neck.

When those blue eyes slid open again, they fixed Nyx with such a serious look that he almost wanted to snap to attention. And then they spoke.

“You are worthy, Nyx Ulric, and the words you spoke to the Lucii were just. You were right to remind them of their post, to call them on their hypocrisy. No true king would have demanded this in return.”

Nyx felt his breath catching in his throat, and tears welling up in eyes that hadn’t quite dried yet. Feeling overwhelmed, Nyx tried to reach for Noct; maybe to one of the hands resting on his neck; maybe to the face hovering above his; maybe to Noct’s shoulder.

Wherever it was his hand would have settled was a moot point, because it didn’t get more than a few inches before aches and pain and _exhaustion_ raced through his body.

There was a shift above him, and Noct moved back, hand moving away from his neck as he broke Nyx’s gaze. A moment later a quiet “shit” drifted to Nyx’s ears. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to focus past the wateriness. There were a few moments of quiet before Noct spoke again.

“We’re done with this dungeon. Gladio, can you carry him?”

Nyx’s mind was stuck on the implacable command that infused Noct’s voice as he spoke. In that moment, Noct hadn’t sounded like a Prince without a throne, he had sounded like a _King_. His mind was stuck enough that he didn’t notice what Gladio was doing until the man had lifted him straight up in his arms.

Struggling to communicate what he thought of _that,_ Nyx managed to bring his arm up enough to fall against Gladio’s chest. It was pitifully weak, but Gladio glanced down to look at him. “…‘sis is no’ a sma’ way to carry s’un,” he managed to get out, exhaustion causing his tongue to stumble over the sounds.

Nyx felt Gladio snort as he replied, “You were clawing at your chest, Ulric, I’m not about to sling you over a shoulder.”

He had been, hadn’t he? “… ‘m fine now,” Nyx told him truthfully even as he wanted to shiver at the memory of the Magic of the Lucii wreaking havoc on his body.

Gladio said something in reply, but Nyx couldn’t be bothered to try and understand it. His mind and body were begging him for sleep, and despite his wishes, he couldn’t muster up the ability to fight it off completely.

Nyx was vaguely aware of Gladio stopping, of a conversation. There was a faint tickle of magic being used, and then Gladio was moving again and Nyx felt a huge _rush_ of magic over them, there and gone in an instant. There was movement again, and more voices talking, and then there was just the quiet of movement. It was soothing, and despite their location, Nyx felt safe.

He fell asleep.


	22. Epilogue

When Nyx awoke, it was slowly. He was snuggled into something, with weight draped across his shoulders, and a warmth that he had been missing for several days. Still bleary, he spent some minutes snuggling deeper into his—pillow? Eventually, he had to acknowledge that he was indeed awake, and with a sigh he rolled onto his back, the weight on his shoulders shifting to lie across his chest.

Lying on his back exposed his face, and his eyes scrunched unhappily at the light coming through their lids. Something settled lightly against the top of his head, stroking gently, and Nyx relaxed into it with a happy sigh. Once his eyes had adjusted, Nyx blinked them slowly open, squinting slightly.

Either it wasn’t as early as he had expected, or it was an overcast day, because it didn’t take long for his eyes to relax. Vision clearing, Nyx blinked upward, slowly realizing he recognized the worried face hovering over him.

“Noct.” The word slipped past his lips with barely a thought.

Relief stole over that face above him, blue eyes closing for a moment. “Nyx,” Noct breathed in return. “Thank all the Six you’re alright.” Blue eyes slid open again to meet his.

The emotion swimming in those blue depths was so captivating that it took Nyx several long moments to realize he was lying with his head in Noct’s lap. Another stroke against the top of his head had Nyx’s eyes widening. He was sure he had to be flushing. As he remembered the way he had snuggled into his “pillow”, Nyx gulped, breaking Noct’s gaze to dart little glances anywhere but at him.

His glances revealed that they were in a camp. Nyx moved to get up, only to flinch in pain, trying to suppress a gasp as his entire body _throbbed_. It felt horribly similar to the pain he had been in upon escaping Insomnia. The arm he hadn’t realized was draped across his chest tightened, pinning him down. “Don’t move,” said the voice above him.

After a moment, his tensed muscles relaxed again. The hand cradling his head began carding its fingers through his hair and Nyx found himself tilting his head to give it better access. He took carefully regular breaths, trying to shake the pain off; both the immediate pain and the pain he was remembering from Insomnia.

Nyx drifted awhile, mind quiet, caught between Noct’s hand in his hair and his still recovering body. He came back to the present at the deliberate scuffing of a foot against rock, and a low-voiced, “Noct.”

Gladio’s tone was carefully measured and the most serious Nyx had ever heard it as he continued, “What were you talking about, when you said it was a dream?”

The hand carding through Nyx’s hair paused, hovering, before it slowly lowered to rest against his head. Nyx took in the carefully blank expression on what little he could see of Noct’s upturned face. After several seconds his head dropped, eyes managing to miss Nyx’s gaze. After a moment, Noct’s fingers began absently picking at one of Nyx’s braids.

He began speaking just like that, addressing his words to Nyx’s hair, voice soft yet carrying.

“My destiny… the Prophecy… the Accursed and the Starscourge… it’s all meant to end in the…” Noct seemed to grope for words for a moment, “Beyond.”

One of the legs under Nyx’s head shifted, and Noct looked away, gazing into the steadily crackling flames of the fire instead.

“After… _everything…_ I floated.

“I don’t know how long it might have been that I floated in the beyond before something changed. What I do know, is that… I realized it was getting dark.

“At some point after that, something in the… _feel_ of my environment changed.” The hand on Nyx’s shoulder rose, curling into a fist as he paused and then releasing abruptly with a wave and dropping back to his chest as Noct tried to convey something unexplainable. “The beyond is another plane of existence, but mostly, it feels like magic. I was still floating in magic, but, _something_ had changed.

“…Like I said, it had grown dark. Shortly after I realized something was different, that too changed, and it changed abruptly. There was light, coming from somewhere, and—” Noct broke off, mouth a grim line in his face.

“There was a man there, lying on the ground. He—I know he was speaking, saying something. There were figures, giants in comparison, made of magic that were looming over him. The man was hurt terribly, but he was negotiating with these— _beings_ anyways.”

Noct’s hand was now brushing through Nyx’s hair in long strokes that trembled faintly.

“…They hurt him, for something he said. But he kept speaking, and they stopped hurting him. Eventually they sent him away, but not before they planted a channel in him.

“The darkness fell away as the figures did, and the man was… I suppose he must have been in a city, I didn’t really register any of it.”

Noct paused, the fingers playing with the ends of Nyx’s hair his only motion for several moments.

“The channel was for magic. Once the darkness faded, it poured into him—sealed whatever had hurt him. And the man was able to use it. He—fought?

“…there was something happening, but I couldn’t really register it. I only saw the magic.” The hand that had been resting softly on Nyx’s shoulder tightened and his voice dropped even softer.

“He could use the magic, and he was good at it. He was pulling magic out of the channel, using it up as quickly as it was coming in, but…

“There was something else, in it. There were bits of the magic, sparks that refused to obey him, that followed some other direction, and they were building up.”

Noct finally turned his gaze from the fire, looking down at Nyx. The hand on his shoulder moved to lightly trace one of the scars on his cheek, and Nyx’s breath caught in his throat.

“It was… _horrible._ I watched as they grew, as they began hurting him, the way those figures had hurt him. And eventually, when he stopped fighting…” Noct’s shoulders shuddered above Nyx. “When he stopped pulling magic, it was worse. The sparks came through quicker without the magic flow to slow them, and…”

Noct swallowed hard. Nyx’s eyes traced his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down. The hand on his cheek snuck back into his hair, and the eyes that met his were so heartbreakingly tentative, as if Noct was scared of his response.

“It was like I had stepped through a veil, and suddenly I was right there… And I knew, that this was their way of killing him.

Noct’s eyes slipped closed and he shivered above Nyx. His next words were a whisper. “I said ‘No’.” And then he lifted his chin and said more loudly, “I said ‘No,’ and I stepped forward and reached into him, and I snuffed those sparks myself.”

There were several moments of silence as Noct breathed heavily, reining his emotions back under his control, before he could speak again.

“…It all faded away,” Noct told them, looking back down into Nyx’s eyes. “The images, the magic, the floating—it was all gone. And I woke up in Galdin Quay, confused on how I had gotten there. Before I could really process it, Ignis arrived with the morning news.”

Noct’s cadence only tripped for a moment before he was pushing past it. “I should have been surprised. I was definitely confused, but I let my shield-brothers push me forwards until I found myself on a cliff.

“It was slowly sinking in, but it wasn’t until I felt something in my magic—something that I had never felt before—that I truly _believed_ it wasn’t someone playing a trick on me.

“That I believed I was in the past.”

**Author's Note:**

> 


End file.
